Idaho’s rally in 2nd half falls short

STOCKTON, Calif. — Guillaume Yango had 20 points and nine rebounds Saturday night to lead Pacific past Idaho 62-53 in the Tigers’ Big West Conference men’s basketball victory.

Pacific finished the game with a 9-2 run after Dandrick Jones brought Idaho within 53-51 on a basket with 4:13 remaining. Jones led all scorers with 21 points, hitting 10 of 23 field-goal attempts in 36 minutes off the bench.

The Tigers (12-2, 7-0 Big West) dominated up front as Christian Maraker had 15 points and nine rebounds and Tyler Newton added 10 points and six rebounds.

Tanoris Shepard also reached double figures with 15 points for Idaho (5-11, 3-2). Forward Lionel Davis was only player in double figures on the boards with 10 for the Vandals.

Pacific outscored Idaho 36-16 in the paint and 20-7 in second-chance points.

The Tigers shot 62 percent from the field in the second half after scoring just 10 points in the game’s first 12 minutes. The finished at 50 percent for the game to the Vandals’ 43.4 percent.

Pacific had its biggest lead at 48-39 with 8:39 remaining. But the Vandals fought back behind Shepard and Jones, who combined for 12 consecutive Idaho points.

“We battled tonight,” Vandals coach Leonard Perry said. “Our kids laid it out there.

“We got the ball inside. We attacked the rim. We put our kids in a good position.”

Idaho had its biggest lead at 19-12 with 7 minutes left in the first half, but Pacific answered with a 9-0 run. The lead then changed hands on four consecutive possessions before Jasko Korajkic made a 3-pointer and layup to give the Tigers a 28-27 lead at the intermission.

Perry said where the Vandals faltered early was allowing Pacific to pull back into the lead at the half with a rugged performance on the offensive boards – all when rebounding has been a strength of this Vandal team.

“That hurt us in the first half,” Perry said. “For about a 4-minute stretch, the only way they could score was off rebounds. Second-shot opportunities killed us.”

Yango began the second half with a 3-point play and two inside baskets, then scored Pacific’s final four points on a fast-break dunk and layup as the Tigers pulled away in the final minutes.

The Tigers, who extended their Big West win streak to 22 games, were good on 12 of their 18 trips to the free-throw line. Idaho made both of its attempts.

The Vandals return to the Cowan Spectrum Thursday night to take on UC Riverside.

Pacific 62, Idaho 53

Idaho (5-11, 3-2)–Lyons 3-5 2-2 8, Kahrimanovic 2-6 0-0 4, Davis 1-22 0-0 2, Haynes 1-6 0-0 3, Shepard 6-10 0-0 15, Jones 10-23 0-0 21, Higdon 0-1 0-0 0, Kale 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 2-2 53.

Pacific (12-2, 7-0)–Maraker 6-13 2-4 15, Newton 3-4 4-6 10, Yango 9-11 2-4 20, Mihailovic 0-4 0-0 0, Doubley 2-7 4-4 9, Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Webb 0-2 0-0 0, Korajkic 3-4 0-0 8, Kemper 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-46 12-18 62.

Halftime–Pacific 28, Idaho 27. 3-point goals–Idaho 5-17 (Shepard 3-4, Jones 1-4, Haynes 1-5, Lyons 0-1, Kahrimanovic 0-3), Pacific 4-12 (Korajkic 2-2, Doubley 1-2, Maraker 1-3, Webb 0-2, Mihailovic 0-3). Fouled out–None. Rebounds–Idaho 25 (Davis 10), Pacific 32 (Maraker, Yango 9). Assists–Idaho 10 (Haynes, Shepard 3), Pacific 15 (Mihailovic 5). Total fouls–Idaho 15, Pacific 9. A–4,868.