Box Score

Trevon Clayton scored 18 points and Jackson Carbajal added 14 points and eight assists as Fresno Pacific mounted a second half comeback to defeat tournament host Sonoma State 68-65 at the Ron Logsdon Classic on Saturday night.

"Tonight was one of those nights where we just found a way to gut it out and come away with a victory," said head coach Chris Wright. "I thought Sonoma State was the best team we've played so far this year so to be able to bounce back and win on the road after last night's loss showed a lot of character and a little bit of the toughness we've been looking for. It's good to get a win, but more importantly I felt we really improved as a team tonight."

The Sunbirds (2-2) trailed 35-28 before Carbajal nailed a three at the buzzer in the first half to make it 35-31 at halftime. In the second half FPU trailed by as many as nine, 50-41 with 13 minutes to play, before mounting a comeback. FPU's go-to player Malcolm Griffin was in foul trouble all night, picking up his fourth less than two minutes into the second half.

He would re-enter the game however and, along with Josh Mason and a strong pressure defense, spark an 11-2 run to tie the game at 52. The game would go down to the wire, with FPU leading 67-65 with 23 seconds left and the Seawolves with the ball. Sonoma State would have a chance to tie it but Clayton came up big, as he had all night, with a block and then a rebound. He knocked down 1-of-2 free-throws to put FPU up by three and the Seawolves missed two good looks at game-tying threes in the closing seconds to end it.

Clayton led the team with nine rebounds, in addition to his 18 points.

"Trev has been our most consistent player so far this year," said Wright. "He's doing a lot of things really well right now and is a guy we're going to be relying on heavily all year."

The Sunbirds won despite being out-shot by the Seawolves 55% to 39%. FPU made up the difference by knocking down 10 three-pointers and capitalizing on second chance points, where they held a 21-5 advantage.

Griffin finished with 11 points and Phil Jackson added 10 in the win. Brandon Glanz had 16 to lead SSU.

The Sunbirds return home this Tuesday as they host UC Merced. FPU defeated the Bobcats 95-64 in the their first meeting last week.