No. 18 Pacific 63, CS Northridge 61

AP
  •  

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Pacific withstood its biggest scare in weeks and kept the nation's longest winning streak alive.

Tyler Newton made two late free throws to help No. 18 Pacific win its 22nd straight game, a 63-61 victory over Cal State Northridge on Friday night in the Big West semifinals.

Guillaume Yango had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, who ran their Big West streak to 34 games.

Pacific (26-2) will play Utah State or Cal State Fullerton in the title game Saturday night.

Christian Maraker added 13 points, and Newton finished with 12 for the top-seeded Tigers, seeking their second straight conference title.

Pacific led by as many as 12 in the second half, but Joseph Frazier gave the fourth-seeded Matadors (17-13) their first lead since early in the first half with a steal and a layup that made it 61-60 with a minute to play.

Newton's two free throws with 22 seconds left gave Pacific a 62-61 lead.

Ian Boylan scored a career-high 32 points for Northridge, but missed a short jumper with 9.1 seconds left.

Jasko Korajkic then made one of two free throws, and Frazier missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"We were very fortunate tonight," Pacific coach Bob Thomason said. "Hopefully, this is a big-time scare that can get us back on track. We made some mistakes, we got away with it. It's been that way all year."

Pacific had 23 turnovers.

The two-point margin was the Tigers' closest since a 64-63 victory over Utah State on Feb. 12.

Yango had a three-point play to give Pacific its biggest lead, 56-44 with 8:19 to play.

CONTINUED: 1 · 2 · Next »
Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
  •  
You May Also Like
 

Biggest Stories

 
 

Latest

Most Popular