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BOCA RATON, Fla. \u2013 In its first of three games of the Geico Sunshine Slam, the Pacific men’s basketball program faces Florida Atlantic at 4 p.m. (PT) Thursday at Abessinio Court at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
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\nPacific will spend a week in Florida as it heads to Daytona Beach on Monday for a neutral court game against Stony Brook at 8:30 a.m. (PT) at the Ocean Center. Pacific will remain in Daytona Beach to play either Bethune-Cookman or Jacksonville in the finale Tuesday.
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\nThursday’s game against Florida Atlantic will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Monday and Tuesday’s games can be seen on BallerTV. All three matches can be heard live for free on Fox Sports AM 1280 with Zack Bayrouty on the calls.
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\nPacific is coming off an 85-73 road win at Cal State Fullerton. It was a wire-to-wire victory as the Tigers built a 20-point halftime lead. Senior TJ Wainwright<\/a> drained a season-high 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting. It was Pacific’s first road win since Nov. 10, 2023 when it knocked off Cal 87-79.
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\nThe Tigers are going for their third consecutive win. The streak started with a 69-66 victory over Long Beach State where they were able to overcome a cold 3-of-20 (.150) night from long range. Pacific trailed by 11 at the 14:38 mark of the second half before rallying back.
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\nPacific’s only loss was a tough 78-77 nail-biter at Nevada. The Tigers had two looks at the rim in closing seconds but couldn’t get one to go as the buzzer sounded.
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\nSenior Elias Ralph<\/a>, who was named to the WCC Preseason All-Conference Team, leads Pacific in points (18.7 ppg), rebounding (7.8 rpg), blocks (1.8 bpg) and minutes played (34.2 mpg). He’s shooting .556 (10-18) from long range and has a pair of 20-plus scoring performances so far.
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\nFAU (3-1) has wins this year over Boston College 83-78 (OT), Charleston 94-77 and Coastal Georgia 92-63. Its only loss was an 88-68 decision at Liberty. Sophomore guard Devin Vanterpool leads the squad with 17.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
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\nPacific’s next home game is against Sacramento State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29. The Tigers are 811-462 all-time at home, 348-229 in the Alex G. Spanos Center and 2-0 this season. Pacific is 31-8 all-time against Sac State and 20-3 at home. The last meeting was a 74-58 home win on Dec. 1, 2016.
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\nNOTES
\n– The Tigers will play their first-ever game in the state of Florida as a program. It will be Pacific’s first game against a school from Florida since Nov. 10, 2019 when it beat Florida A&M 76-54 on a neutral floor in Manoa, Hawaii. The Tigers are 2-1 all-time against schools from Florida with a win over Florida International in 1988 but a loss to Miami in 2013 – both on neutral courts.
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\n– Ralph leads the WCC in minutes per game and ranks top five in rebounding, blocks and three-point percentage.
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\n– Senior Jaden Clayton<\/a> ranks first in the WCC in assists with 7.0 per game. He dished out a season-high 11 at Nevada. Clayton scores 9.0 points per outing with a season-high 13 against Life Pacific.
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\n– Wainwright averages in double-figures with 13.5 points per game. He’s scored in double-figures in three of four games and has hit at least one three in each outing.
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\n– In the season opening win over Life Pacific, the Tigers held a wide 44-20 margin in points in the paint and a 16-0 edge in fast break points. Pacific won its season and home opener by exactly 27 points for the second year in a row. Last year, in head coach Dave Smart<\/a>‘s debut, the Tigers beat Jessup 92-65.
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\n– The new-look Tigers reloaded with 15 newcomers this year, which included 10 transfers and five freshmen. They have Division I transfers from Binghamton, Dayton, Florida, Lamar, Long Beach State, Maine, UC San Diego and Washington. Most notably, junior Kajus Kublickas<\/a> was part of a national championship team last season with the Gators.
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\nTigers Tickets
\nTickets for upcoming events can be purchased through the\u00a0PacificTigers.com<\/a>\u00a0tickets tab, or by calling the Box Office at\u00a0209-946-2474<\/a>.\u00a0 Groups of 10 or more are eligible for a group discount and exclusive fan experiences.
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\nStay Social
\nFor all the latest on Pacific Men’s Basketball, be sure to follow the team on X (@PacificMensBB<\/a>), Instagram (@PacificMensBB<\/a>) and “like” the team’s official Facebook page (Pacific Men’s Basketball<\/a>).
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\n#PacificProud
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