SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Michael Joseph had 24 points, 10 rebounds and four steals to help lead Pacific to comeback 69-54 win over UC Santa Cruz on Saturday night at the Mission Inn Kick Off Classic, held in the Kaiser Permanente Arena.

The win comes less than 24 hours after a grueling three overtime loss at Menlo (101-97). With the win, Pacific improves to 3-1 on the year. The Banana Slugs are now 0-3 on the season.

UC Santa Cruz used a late first half run (12-3) to take a 34-27 halftime lead, but it took only five and a half minutes after intermission for Pacific to reclaim the lead for good. After a pair of Bobby Ahern free throws gave the visitors the lead at 41-39, the Boxers never saw the short end of the scoreboard the rest of the night.

As has been the case thus far in the short season, coach Tim Cleary's crew was balanced in addition to Joseph's big numbers. K.C. Harrison had 16 points, hitting five of seven trey attempts. Ahern chipped in 12 points and DeVon Pouncey added 10. As a team, Pacific nailed 11 of 25 three-point attempts, including Joseph's four of five.

Sam Gabbard led the Banana Slugs with 10 points.

The Boxers will return to California next weekend, traveling to Los Angeles to take on Redlands on Saturday (Nov. 28) and La Verne on Sunday. Both games are scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip.