Pacific Game Recap: Taku Leads Pacific to Victory over CSUS
By Josh Horton
Nov 23, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Pacific Tigers guard Sama Taku (3) is defended by St. Mary
The Pacific Tigers pulled away from Cal State Stanislaus in the late second half of an exhibition game, which took place this evening, which the Tigers won by a score of 80-70.
Pacific led the Warriors by 13 points at half time, but CSUS rallied in the late second half to cut the defiect to only 1 point. Pacific ended the game on a 25-16 run to ice the game and assure victory for the Tigers.
The Tigers were led by senior guard Sama Taku, who scored 25 points on 10 of 15 shooting. Taku was the only Pacific player to score in double figures. On top of that, Taku grabbed 4 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, and had three steals. Senior forward Trevin Harris, senior forward Tony Gill and freshman guard TJ Wallace chipped in 9 points as well. Seniors Ross Rivera and Khalil Kelly led Pacific in rebounding with 8 apiece.
The Warriors scoring charge was led by Tyler Barber, who had 15 points off the bench for Cal State Stanislaus. Forward Rob Walters was one point short of a double-double (9 points, 10 rebounds).
Pacific showcased a more up-temp style in this contest, something that Pacific and West Coast Conference fans alike can expect this season.
Senior Andrew Bock did in fact did the start for the Tigers like we expected, but head coach Ron Verlin stated in the postgame interview that he is not sure what the Tigers point guard situation would be like moving forward. Freshman TJ Wallace played almost identical minutes to Bock – 19 to Bocks 21 – and would be the next in line to assume the starting point guard role.
At the forward position, Ross Rivera got the start over Tony Gill, but coach Verlin specified that Gill would start the next exhibition game against Montana Tech. Gill and Rivera are currently battling for that last forward position.