STOCKTON, Calif. – The tandem of Souley Boum and Jamal Bieniemy for visiting UTEP sparked an 11-2 run midway through the first half to take its first lead as the Miners remained in the lead for most of the contest en route to a 73-64 win over host Pacific on Friday night.
The win raises the record for UTEP to 3-1 on the season; whereas Pacific falls to 2-3.
"We were outplayed tonight as they were the tougher team," said a disappointed Pacific head coach
Leonard Perry. "That's something that we can control. We can control our efforts, we can control how we execute our offense. We let them take us out of everything we wanted to do. We got away from the things that will make us a successful team."
On the strength of the Tigers'
Jeremiah Bailey, Pacific built a lead as large as eight on a pair of occasions. Bailey scored 11 points in the first 4:41 of the game as the Tigers held a 17-9 lead with 11:39 left in the opening half. Down 17-9, UTEP scored 16 unanswered points to take a 25-17 lead. The Tigers would fight back to tie the game for the second time at 31 when Anderson hit a 3-pointer with 2:41 left in the half.
For the Miners, Boum, who scored 20 in the first half, finished the game with 29 – the most by a Tiger opponent since Kessler Edwards of Pepperdine scored 37 on Jan. 21, 2021. He filled up the stat sheet with six rebounds, three assists and three steals to complement his scoring efforts. Bieniemy and Alvin Hollins added 18 and 12 points, respectively.
For the Tigers, Bailey finished the contest with 16 points, his fifth-straight game in double figures, plus
Luke Avdalovic and
Alphonso Anderson poured in 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The Miners closed out the half on a 12-4 run on its way to a 43-35 halftime lead, a lead they would never relinquish in the second half. Defensively, the Tigers closed out the game by holding UTEP scoreless for the final 3:59 of the contest but could not draw any closer than seven to complete their comeback efforts.
Next, Pacific will host Chicago State on Monday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. as the Tigers will host the Cougars as part of The Cerebro Sports Cali Jam.
