The Oaks - seeded fourth - found enough offense to get the job done and used a game-ending 18-7 spurt to advance past the fifth-seeded Pioneers and into Saturday's semifinals where it will face No. 1 California Maritime at Napa Valley College's Storm Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m.

Menlo had led for fewer than 30 seconds in the second half and trailed 42-39 with less than nine minutes to play when they simply refused to let their season come to a close.

Things began to turn for the better when freshman forward Patrick Greene faced up from 15 feet and drove down the lane for a basket that pulled the Oaks within a point with eight minutes, 20 second to play. Menlo forced Pacific Union into a pair of missed shots on the ensuing possession with the Oaks lone senior, Tim Kees, pulling down a big rebound.

Kees was sent to the line after being fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Nick McCullar tipped the rebound out to Drew Davis, who eventually hit Julian Harris with a cross court pass for a 3-pointer that put Menlo ahead to stay, 44-42 with seven minutes, 12 seconds left.

The teams traded empty possessions until Kees was fouled going up for a defensive rebound and sank two free throws to double the Oaks cushion with just more than five minutes to go. McCullar made two free throws of his own after Pacific Union's Kenny Penn scored inside, but a Penn free throw and a Brandon Monty runner pulled the Pioneers within 48-47.

With its lead and season hanging on by a thread, Menlo turned to its leading scorer again and Harris canned a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer to reestablish a four-point lead with just under two minutes left. Monty cut the Oaks lead in half at the charity stripe, but Kees got one back at the free throw line.

Pacific Union had one more chance to stay even with Menlo, but Aren Rennacker was way off with a 3-pointer from the baseline and Kees grabbed the rebound with one minute to go. The Oaks wound the shot clock down until Harris was fouled and drained two free throws for a 55-49 advantage. Monty missed from deep on the Pioneers following possession and McCullar was intentionally fouled as he tried to finish a fast break. The junior forward made one free throw and Dejon Grant added two more on the same possession for the final difference.

The tense nature of the battle for postseason survival was far from a foregone conclusion early in the contest. Despite a slow pace, Menlo fought its way to a 14-2 lead eight minutes into the game behind tough defense and timely shooting.

Kees sank a pair of free throws and drove for a score, McCullar scored inside from a Kees assist, and Harris made two freebies for an early lead. With Pacific Union mired in a 1-for-11 start from the field, much of it thanks to Menlo's scrappy defense, the Oaks took advantage with back-to-back 3-pointers from Grant and Dung for the early 12-point lead.

Unfortunately for Menlo, it didn't take advantage of the Pioneers missing offense as it might have hoped. Pacific Union had just three points to its credit midway through the half, but turned the table on the Oaks with a half-closing 17-4 run for a 23-20 halftime lead thanks to an Andrew Webster 3-pointer seconds before the break.

With Pacific Union's traveling contingent making noise in the stands, Menlo home court advantage seemed to be floating out the window, but McCullar opened the second half with a pair of scores at the hoop for a 24-23 lead. The Oaks led for all of 29 seconds before the Pioneers used a 9-2 spurt for its largest lead of the game at 32-26 less than four minutes into the half.

McCullar scored again and Grant got to the basket to trim the deficit. After Penn made a free throw, Grant hit his second 3-pointer of the night and just his sixth of the season to tie the score at 33. Neither team led by more than three points from then until Menlo's final surge.

Grant picked a perfect to pick up his scoring load, finishing with a team-high 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting and seven rebounds. Harris came through with 12 points, mostly in the clutch, while Kees and McCullar each finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Greene grabbed a game-high nine rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.

Penn led the Pioneers with 14 points while Monty totaled 13 points and six assists. Webster scored nine and Kameron Barnes chipped in seven.