A pivotal 3-pointer by Dulani Robinson late in the game helped Pacific capture third place in the Great Alaska Shootout with a 55-48 win over Mercer on Saturday night,
Pacific led by two points with less than a minute left and was on the verge of losing the ball on a shot clock violation. With less than a second to spare, Robinson launched a desperation shot that banked in, giving the Tigers breathing room and knocking the wind out of the Bears.
Instead of getting a turnover for its hard work on defense and keeping it a one-possession game, Mercer (3-4) saw its deficit grow to five points, 52-46. Pacific (4-3) hit three of four free throws in the final 38 seconds to cement the victory.
It was the second straight night a buzzer-beater derailed the Bears. On Friday, Mercer was one-tenth of a second away from victory when UC Santa Barbara's Michael Bryson drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to overtime, where UCSB won it, 65-60.
Robinson finished with nine points for Pacific, which got a team-high 11 points from T.J. Wallace and nine points and eight rebounds from Jacob Lampkin.
Mercer, which finished fifth in the eight-team tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center, was led by Ike Nwamu's 14 points and T.J. Hallice's 11 points and five rebounds.
PACIFIC (55) -- Thompson 1-2 1-2 3, Taylor 1-4 0-0 3, Eleraky 1-2 5-6 7, Wallace 4-9 0-0 11, Bowles 3-7 1-2 7, Kobre 2-5 0-0 6, Robinson 3-7 2-2 9, Ursery 0-4 0-0 0, Lampkin 2-4 5-5 9. Totals 17-44 14-17 55.
MERCER (48) -- Hallice 5-12 1-2 11, Moten 1-5 4-6 6, Leonard 1-3 3-4 5, Nwamu 6-13 2-2 14, Bryan 1-3 0-0 3, Panaggio 0-2 2-2 2, Lewis 2-2 1-2 7, Strawberry 0-1 0-0 0, Jelks 0-2 0-0 0, Rivers 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Bento 0-1 0-0 0, Ney 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-47 13-18 48.
Pacific 26 29 -- 55
Mercer 19 29 -- 48
3-point goals -- Pacific 7-19 (Taylor 1-4, Wallace 3-6, Bowles 0-1, Kobre 2-4, Robinson 1-4), Mercer 3-10 (Hallice 0-2, Moten 0-1, Nwamu 0-2, Bryan 1-2, Lewis 2-2, Jelks 0-1). Rebounds -- Pacific 32 (Lampkin 8), Mercer 28 (Moten). Total fouls -- Pacific 23, Mercer 17. Fouled out -- Eleraky. Assists -- Pacific 11 (Robinson 3), Mercer 9 (Leonard 6). Turnovers -- Pacific 14 (Thompson 4), Mercer 11 (Leonard 3). Blocks -- Pacific 2, Mercer 3. Steals -- Pacific 2, Mercer 4 (Nwamu 3). A -- 3,110. Officials -- Zakarian, Watts, Rukaskin.