IRVINE – University gave its fans plenty to cheer about on Friday night, rallying from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Beckman, 80-72, in the Pacific Coast League opener for both teams.
The Trojans, behind the 40-point, 17-rebound performance of junior Alex Bray, outscored Beckman, 27-17, in the final quarter in the annual Pack the Gym Night at University, which attracted a near-capacity crowd.
Bray was held to one point in the first quarter, but came alive in the second quarter, scoring 15 points. He added 24 points in the second half. Bray made 22 of 27 free throw attempts and hit four 3-pointers.
“In the first quarter, I’m pretty sure I went 0 for 10 or something like that,” Bray said. “My team just helped me get my confidence back up in the second quarter. It was a back-and-forth game, but we made our free throws down the stretch, and that really helped us win the game.”
As a team, University (7-8, 1-0) made 36 of 51 free throws.
“We were very nervous in the first half,” said University coach Mike Dinneen. “We shot poorly in the first half, 25 percent, but we shot better in the second half and Alex was able to get to the line a lot. We played really hard.
“We just needed a win. We had lost five in a row, all to good teams. This might be the toughest schedule we’ve ever played.”
University also got a strong performance from senior forward Ryan Pham, who had 18 points and 20 rebounds.
Beckman (8-9, 0-1) gave the Trojans all they could handle.
The Patriots were led by sophomore Dylan Thoerner, who scored 21 points, 14 coming in the first half. Junior Aaron Chen added 17 points and junior Ryan Sprosty had 13 points.
Beckman held a 55-53 lead going into the fourth quarter, but University’s full-court press forced key turnovers in the final stanza.
Bray, who made 12 free throws in the final quarter, made two free throws with 2:55 left to put the Trojans ahead, 69-63.
Bray hit the 40-point mark when he made two more free throws with under 10 seconds left to help the Trojans win by eight.
“Beckman played us really tough,” Dinneen said. “They have some good young players but it was nice to get the win.”
Contact the writer: tburt@scng.com
