With under five minutes remaining in Wednesday night’s game, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men’s basketball team led on the road.
It didn’t last, though, as the University of the Pacific pulled away in the final minutes of an otherwise tight game to beat UAPB 83-71 at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif.
UAPB (1-7) led 67-65 after senior forward Klemen Vuga capped off a 6-0 run with a layup with 4:53 remaining.
Pacific (4-4) junior guard Lamar Washington tied the game with a layup, then gave the Tigers the lead with a 3-pointer. Those shots started an 18-4 Pacific run to close out the game and deny UAPB its first Division I victory this season.
The game had been close all night until that final run. UAPB led by as much as 32-23 in the first half and led 41-40 at halftime, its first halftime lead against a Division I opponent this season. There were 10 lead changes.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
UAPB was down two starters in this game. Junior guard Christian Moore, the team’s leading scorer with 12.1 points per game, missed his first game this year after going down in UAPB’s previous game against Missouri.
Junior forward Robert Lewis missed his second straight game after not playing against Mizzou. He averages 7.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
UAPB shot 49.1% from the field, though the Golden Lions spent most of the game shooting over 50% until missing six of their final seven shots.
Vuga and junior guard Dante Sawyer led UAPB with 16 points apiece, while freshman guard Raphael Dumont scored 14 with six rebounds. Junior guard Zach Reinhart finished with 10 points.
Pacific shot 47.6% from the field and outrebounded the Golden Lions 45-24. The Tigers collected 17 offensive rebounds to UAPB’s four and outscored the Lions 20-4 on second-chance points.
Junior guard Elijah Fisher led the Tigers with a game-high 28 points and nine rebounds. Washington finished with 19 points, while senior forward Elias Ralph scored 18 points with 13 rebounds despite a lengthy stay on the bench with four fouls in the second half.