Feb. 9, 2006
Fullerton, Calif. - Christian Maraker scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds Thursday night to lead Pacific to a 67-62 Big West Conference victory at Cal State Fullerton.
Johnny Gray added 18 points for the Tigers, who won their sixth game in a row to improve to 17-6 overall and 7-2 in the Big West. Jamaal Brown had 17 points and Jermaine Harper had 12 for the Titans, who fell to 10-10 and 3-7 after losing their fifth conference game in a row and fourth in a row at home.
Gray tied the game at 56-56 with 3:33 to play with two free throws and Maraker converted a 3-point play 40 seconds later to put Pacific ahead for good.
Michael White's only basket of the game came with 11 seconds to play to beat the shot clock and give the Tigers a decisive 65-60 lead.
Pacific led by 8 at 46-38 with 13:57 to play before Fullerton went on a 13-4 run to take its first lead of the second half at 51-50 on a dunk by Justin Burns. A 3-pointer by Harper gave Fulleton its last lead at 56-54.
Pacific made 15 of 22 free throws while Fullerton made only 5 of 8.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. From a 15-15 tie at the 12-minute mark, Pacific outscored Fullerton 8 to 4 over the next eight minutes plus. UoP took a 34-27 lead into the locker room.
Bobby Brown, Fullerton's leading scorer with an 18-point average, scored only 9 points, making only 4 of 16 shots and no 3-pointers. The Titans' career 3-point field goal leader has gone two games without a trey for the first time since the first two games of his collegiate career in 2003-04.
Fullerton hosts Cal State Northridge on Saturday while Pacific travels to UC Riverside.