GAME NOTES: After earning wins in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout, the Pacific Tigers and the Colorado State Rams match up in the second round on Friday night at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Pacific earned a 71-62 win over event host Alaska Anchorage on Wednesday to improve to 3-2 overall. The Tigers had fallen against Washington (76-69) in their previous contest, following an 81-56 victory in their home opener against Pacific Union.

Colorado State has played four games and has yet to taste defeat, racking up wins over Montana (83-66), Georgia State (80-70), Mercer (75-62) and Missouri State (76-61), with the latter coming in the first round of this tourney. That win also came in the Rams' first contest away from home.

In five previous meetings, Colorado State has earned three victories over Pacific. The winner this time will battle either Mercer or UC Santa Barbara in Saturday's title game, while the losers will meet as well.

Eric Thompson poured in a game-high 22 points and came up a rebound shy of a double-double in leading Pacific past UAA. The Tigers connected on 49 percent of their total shots, while easily winning the battle on the boards (39-24). One area of weakness in the win was shooting from long range, as they were outscored, 30-12, from 3-point range.

T.J. Wallace (18 ppg, 8.2 rpg) took a backseat to Thompson in the scoring department, but only slightly, against UAA. The Tigers' leading scorer finished with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while contributing nine rebounds and four assists. Thompson (12.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg) has made 74.2 percent of his field goal tries this season and is the only other player on the team averaging in double figures. Dulani Robinson (8.2 ppg, 4 apg) is the top distributor for the squad, but he has not been able to get himself good looks, connecting on a meager 32.6 percent from the field. David Taylor (7 ppg) scored 12 points off the bench against UAA.

Despite shooting at paltry 37.7 percent from the field against Missouri State, the Rams were still never in danger of losing. The Rams helped themselves to a 28-13 scoring edge at the free-throw line to accomplish the victory, while turning 12 turnovers into 16 points. J.J. Avila posted a double-double consisting of 21 points and 11 rebounds in the win, while John Gillon poured in 20 points of his own off the bench.

Avila (14.5 ppg, 8 rpg, 4 apg) is part of a strong trio of scorers and rebounders for the Rams. Daniel Bejarano (14.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Stanton Kidd (13.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg) are doing an excellent job on the glass, and at the offensive end as well. However, Bejarano and Kidd combined for only 12 points on 2-of-16 shooting on Wednesday, although they did total 12 rebounds between them.

It is unlikely that Kidd and Bejarano will be as ineffective on offense in this contest. Expect the Rams' to have a major advantage on the interior and use that to muscle their way victory.