CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

Pacific gets past Portland in first round of the CIT, 82-76

March 18, 2009

Box Score

Willard's Career High 19 Points Leads Pacific Into The Quarterfinals.

Stockton, Calif. - Behind a career-high 19 points from sophomore Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.) the Pacific men's basketball team played its way into the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com tournament with an 82-76 win over Portland on Wednesday, March 18. The win moved the Tigers to 20-12 overall and into the second round of the inaugural tournament while the Pilots season came to a close at 19-13 on the year.

Pacific opened the game with four straight points, followed by five straight from Portland. After the Pilots took a 13-10 lead, the Tigers used a 9-0 run featuring a pair of three-pointers by senior Chad Troyer (Seattle, Wash.) to claim a 19-13 lead.

A 7-1 run by Portland evened it up at 20-20 with 9:07 to play in the first half. Pacific pulled ahead 25-23 after a three-point play by junior Casey Neimeyer (Woodland, Calif.) with 8:08 to play in the first half. The Pilots retook the lead at 30-25 after a 7-0 run with five points from Nik Raivio. Portland held the lead the rest of the first half, taking a 41-36 advantage into the break.

The Pilots shot a blistering 65.2 percent from the field in the first half, including 7-of-9 from three-point range.

The Tigers opened the second half with a 9-2 run, getting four points from Troyer to take a 45-43 lead with 18:25 remaining. With that run the lead changed hands for the last of eight times. After the Pilots knotted it up at 49-49, a 7-0 spurt with four points from senior Bryan LeDuc (Corona, Calif.) and three from Willard gave the Tigers a 56-49 advantage with 13:35 to go.

Another surge by the Pilots cut Pacific's lead to 59-57 with 7:44 remaining in the game.

The Tigers used another 7-0 run with a three-point play from Troyer to take a nine-point lead (68-59) with five minutes to go. Extending the lead to 11 (75-64) with 1:40 to play, Pacific had to hold off a late Portland surge. An 8-1 run by the Pilots over the next minute, the Tiger lead was cut to 76-72 with :48 seconds to play.

Senior Michael Kirby (North Highlands, Calif.) and Willard each hit a pair of free throws to get the lead back to eight (80-72) with :32 seconds left. The Tigers hit two of four free throws the rest of the way to hold on for the victory.

Pacific had four players in double figures, led by Willard's career-high 19 points. Troyer added 18 points, while LeDuc had 13 points and Kirby had 12.

Although the Tigers were out-rebounded 27-26, Pacific outscored the Pilots 42-28 in the paint. Shooting a blistering 68.2 percent in the second half, the Tigers were 63.6 percent from the field for the game.

Pacific will host Idaho in the quarterfinal round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament on Monday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m.