Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Pacific
Tigers Defeat Bulldogs, 99-63
12/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2005
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) - Christian Maraker had 24 points and eight rebounds as Pacific surged in the second half to beat Fresno State 99-63 on Saturday night.
Mike Webb had 13 of his 18 points in the first seven minutes of the second half as Pacific turned a four-point halftime lead into a dominating 36-point victory. The Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 52-20 after the intermission.
Johnny Gray and Steffan Johnson each scored 13 points for the Tigers, who improved to 7-3 with their third win in a row.
It was Pacific's largest margin of victory since 2000.
Ja'Vance Coleman scored 24 points to tie for game-high honors while Quinton Hosley had 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead Fresno State, which fell to 4-3.
The last time the duo scored 20 or more points in a game was at Iowa State when Hosley had 22 and Coleman added 20 in the victory.Hosley, who recorded his fifth double-double and fourth 20-point game as a Bulldog, scored from the perimeter to begin the second half and bring Fresno State within 47-45.
But Webb answered with three consecutive 3-pointers sandwiched around Maraker's dunk to begin a 31-11 run over the next 10 minutes.
The Tigers shot 60 percent from the field in the second half. Webb and Gray combined to go 7 of 11 from beyond the 3-point arc as Pacific finished 11 of 20 on 3-point attempts.
Fresno State finished 5 of 27 from 3-point range and its bench was outscored 33-4 by Pacific's reserves.
Pacific broke out to an early 11-2 lead, but Fresno State worked its way back to take its biggest lead at 32-25 midway through the first half. After several lead exchanges, Pacific ended the half with a 5-0 run to make it 47-43.
"Pacific just shot so well in a variety of ways," Fresno State head coach Steve Cleveland said. "We endured some scoring droughts and we have to figure out a way to break those. Overall, I don't think we played well but we played very well in the first half. Pacific, which shot just over 57 percent from the floor, zapped the energy right out of us in the second half."We missed too many open shots and you can't win with just two people," Cleveland added. "We have to put this behind us and find our resolve -- no exuces and no quitting. We're going to keep working hard, learn from these losses, get better and stay the course. We're going to go back to practice, shoot the ball and stay positive."
After playing its five of its first seven games on the road, Fresno State will enjoy its longest homestand of the season beginning Mon., Dec. 19, when the Bulldogs host Norfolk State at 7:00 p.m. The 'Dogs also will host UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 23, San Francisco on Dec. 29, Iona on Jan. 3 and Utah State on Jan 7.
Single game tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster or at the Save Mart Center box office. Season tickets can be had through gobulldogs.com or the Bulldog Ticket Office.
