Pacific Holds Off Irvine, 84-83

UC Irvine’s frantic defense led to a last-minute charge, but Pacific’s clutch free-throw shooting enabled the Tigers to hold on for an 84-83 Big West victory Saturday night at Irvine.

Irvine, 9-13 overall and 5-10 in the conference, trailed by 14 at halftime after Pacific (13-9, 8-6) shredded the Anteaters’ 2-3 zone defense with nine three-pointers.

Irvine played intense man-to-man defense in the second half but came up short when the Tigers made 11 of 12 free throws in the final 1 1/2 minutes.

The Anteaters, trailing by 10 with 15:14 to play, outscored the Tigers, 14-5, and trailed by just a point, 60-59. But Pacific’s Charles Jones, who finished with 24 points, made his fourth three-pointer of the night. Pacific slowly built on the lead and led by eight with 1:02 to play before the Anteaters’ full-court press created havoc and a few fouls that the Tigers turned into the winning points at the free-throw line.

Irvine freshman Kevin Simmons scored a game-high 25 points.