Pacific holds on to beat UC Santa Barbara 71-68 in Big West tournament opener
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Colin Beatty had 26 points and eight rebounds on Thursday and Pacific held on to beat UC Santa Barbara 71-68 in the quarterfinals of the Big West Conference tournament.
The second-seeded Tigers (20-12) advance to the semifinals on Friday.
Beatty made two free throws in the final second and Santa Barbara missed a chance at a tying 3-pointer.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pacific raced to a 38-19 lead, and the Tigers led 40-25 at halftime. But the Gauchos (11-20) rallied and took their first lead when Kyle Boswell's 3-pointer made it 57-55 with 9:59 to play.
Travis Fulton made a layup with 17 seconds left to make it 69-66 Tigers, followed by Michael Bryson's dunk for UCSB.
Lorenzo McCloud had 12 points and Fulton scored 11 for Pacific. Bryson led Santa Barbara with 29 points.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Gauchos had beaten the Tigers in the first round of the Big West tournament the last two years.