Christian Maraker recorded a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds and Tournament Most Valuable Player Johnny Gray added 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting as Pacific claimed its second Big West Championship in three years with a 78-70 victory over Long Beach State on Saturday night at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

The Tigers (24-7) had four players in double figures. Michael White added 11 points, while Steffan Johnson had 10. Pacific shot 59.2% for the game, making 29-of-49 from the floor along with 10 from beyond the arc.

The 49ers (18-12) were led by Shawn Hawkins' 27 points. Aaron Nixon added 17 points, while Mark Dawson had seven points and 15 rebounds. One night after Long Beach made a tournament-record 17 three-pointers, the 49ers had 13 on 34 attempts. LBSU shot 33.3% (25-for-75) from the floor.

Maraker joined Gray on the All-Big West Tournament team, as did Nixon and Hawkins. Also making the team were UC Irvine's Aaron Fitzgerald and Cal State Fullerton's Jamaal Brown.

After falling behind by three in the first half, Long Beach State made a run to take the advantage. Trailing 10-7 five minutes in, the 49ers scored nine of the next 11 points over a three-minute span, all on three-pointers, to go up 16-12. Hawkins hit a pair of treys during the run, while Sterling Byrd made one from beyond the arc. But the Tigers struck back to score eight unanswered to take the lead for the remainder of the half. A jumper by Maraker and threes by Johnson and Mike Webb gave Pacific a 20-16 advantage. After the 49ers cut the deficit to two, Pacific went on 10-2 spurt to go up by double figures at 30-20 with 6:43 left. The first-half lead was as high as 14 for the Tigers on two occasions before Long Beach made a run to end the half down by only six. Kejuan Johnson nailed a three with 1:46 to go, while Hawkins made a layup 40 seconds later to cut the margin to nine. Then in the final seconds of the half, Nixon made a three to make it a six-point game going to the locker room.

Long Beach State continued its comeback and eventually took the lead six minutes into the second stanza. Hawkins was on fire to start the final 20 minutes, scoring his team's first eight points to cut the deficit to 46-44. Down 49-47, Hawkins' put-back evened the game at 49, and after a White free throw put Pacific up by one, a triple by Jibril Hodges gave the 49ers the 52-50 lead. Gray responded with a three to put the Tigers back up by one, but Nixon's three-pointer on the next possession put the 49ers up by a pair. Johnson would even the game at 55 after a layup and Maraker's put-back gave Pacific a lead it would not relinquish for the final 11 minutes.

Up 59-58, the Tigers went on a 7-0 run on a three by Maraker, a breakaway layup by Anthony Esparza and two free throws by White. The run ended following two free throws by Hawkins, but a three by Webb put the Tigers back up by nine at 69-60. Down 70-62, Nixon made a three-pointer to cut the lead to five at the 3:40 mark, but that would be as close as Long Beach State got. Pacific scored eight of the final 13 points to win by eight.

BOX SCORE