2007-08 Men's Basketball Season Review
HOWE
EARNS ALL-NWC SELECTION: By the time the season ended, Garold
Howe proved that he could do just about anything: go inside, shoot from
the outside, rebound and defend. Coaches noticed the junior's impact for
Pacific, making him the Boxers' first First Team All-Northwest Conference
selection since 1999-2000.
After a quiet start to the season, Howe finished the year leading Pacific with 17.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He finished ranked fifth in the NWC in rebounding, seventh in scoring, fourth in three-point percentage and 10th in free throw percentage. In 16 league games, Howe averaged 20.9 points per game and a .524 three-point percentage.
"I'm happy for Garold and our program that he named to the first team," said Pacific Head Coach Jason Lowery. "He gave us a solid year after an adjustment period during the first semester, which is common for transfers. He really turned it on during conference play and showed what he could do, especially at the offensive end."
Howe led the Boxers in scoring in the team's final 12 games, led by a 40-point effort against Pacific Lutheran on Jan. 26 and a 33-point effort against George Fox on Feb. 16. In all, Howe was selected as the Northwest Conference Player of the Week three times, on Jan. 28, Feb. 11 and Feb. 25. In his 40-point effort against the Lutes, Howe set a Pacific single game record with 17 field goals made, passing the mark of 15 set by Brett Jefferies in 1994.
A TALE OF TWO SEASONS: As the 2007-08 season began, it was surely the worst of times for Pacific as the Boxers dropped nine of their first 11 games. Outside of an 85-80 overtime victory over Northwest Christian and a 68-56 win over La Sierra on the team's Christmas break trip, the Boxers' did not look like the team conference coaches picked to finish fourth in the NWC.
After a couple of personnel changes at the beginning of the NWC season, however, the Boxers fortunes began to change to the best of times. Beginning with a 70-50 road blowout of Whitman on Jan. 11, the Boxers went on to be a very competitive program, winning nine of their final 14 games. After bring outscored by an average of 11 points per game in their first 11 games, Pacific turned around to outscore foes by an average of two points per game in the final 14 contests.
The conference wins tally included victories over some of the league's top programs. The Boxers posted a 30-point blowout over Linfield, winning 81-51 on Jan. 18. They went on to win five of their last six games, which included a 85-76 victory over eventual NWC champion Whitworth, the first win over the Pirates for Head Coach Jason Lowery, and a 77-68 victory over Willamette.
Pacific ended the season with an 11-14 record, but ended up in a four-way for third place in the NWC standings with a 9-7 record, the Boxers' first winning conference record since the 1999-2000 season.
TOPS OF THE CONFERENCE: Pacific became one of the tougher teams to beat during the NWC season, which showed in the conference's final statistics. Against NWC opponents, the Boxers ranked first in field goal percentage defense (.429) for the second straight season and also led the league in both three-point shooting percentage (.403) and three-point shooting defense (.311). Pacific also ranked second as a team in scoring defense, allowing 66.8 points per game, and third in rebounding margin (+2.3).
Individually, it was Howe leading the way for the Boxers. Against conference teams, the junior transfer ranked first in scoring (20.9 ppg) and three-point percentage (.524), fourth in defensive rebounds (5.25 rpg), fifth in total rebounding (6.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (.563) and ninth in three-point field goals made (2.06 per game). Senior guard Donnie Harrison-Davis ranked sixth against NWC foes in three-pointers made (2.13 per game), ninth in three-point percentage (.415) and 10th in assists (2.75 per game).
Senior forward Joe Van Domelen, meanwhile, tied for seventh in blocked shots with teammate Todd Hinderman (0.56 per game) and was 10th in scoring at 16.6 points per game.
FAR
FROM AN ORDINARY JOE: After two years away from Pacific due to
grade problems, Joe Van Domelen returned in 2006 to a much different team
led by Jason Lowery. What both Van Domelen and Lowery realized, however,
was that the two fit together in the team's hard defensive system.
The senior forward started all but one game for the Boxers in 2007-08 and made a huge impact on the team. His 14.6 points per game ranked 12th in the NWC and his six rebounds per game ranked 11th. He scored in double digits in 21 games, topped by a 22-point effort against Lewis & Clark on Jan. 2. Van Domelen also ranked fifth in blocked shots (0.60 per game) ninth in the conference in field goal percentage (.512). Van Domelen's rebounding total was the best of his career, while his scoring average was the second best of his career, bettered only by his 16 points per game in the 2003-04 campaign. Despite the numbers, Van Domelen was not selected for the All-Northwest Conference Team.
In addition, Van Domelen became the 11th player in Pacific men's basketball history to score 1,000 or more points, surpassing the bar with a 21-point effort against Willamette on Feb. 22. He finished his career with 1,034 points, ranking him 10th on the Pacific all-time scoring list. Van Domelen's 458 career rebounds places him 12th on the Boxers' all-time list.
FLOOR
LEADER: In his second season at Pacific. Donnie Harrison-Davis
saw his role adjust from being the team's featured scorer to being the
team's floor leader as de facto point guard. The senior accepted the role
well, but became a quieter and deadlier scoring threat. Harrison-Davis
finished fourth for the Boxers in scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game.
He ranked eighth in the conference in three-point shooting (.400) and three-pointers
made per game (1.92) and finished 10th in the league in assists, averaging
2.80 per game.
That quiet, but deadly, shooting touch came in big for the Boxers during the stretch run. Harrison-Davis scored in double digits in eight of Pacific's final 10 games, capped by a 21-point effort against Lewis & Clark on Jan. 29.
D-FENCE: For the second straight season, Pacific proved themselves statistically to be one of the top defensive teams in the conference. The Boxers ranked fourth in the circuit in scoring defense, holding opponents to 72 points per game, and held conference opponents to 71.4 points per game, second beat in the league. Pacific ranked third in field goal percentage defense (.445) and three-point defense (.330) and fifth in rebounding (35.2).
DOWN THE PLANK, YE PIRATES: Pacific handed Head Coach Jason Lowery a landmark win on Feb. 9 as the Boxers beat eventual NWC champions Whitworth by a final of 85-76. The win was the first for Lowery over the Pirates and the first for Pacific over Whitworth since the 2003-04 season. Garold Howe led all scorers with 27 points and added eight rebounds as the Boxers shot an impressive 58 percent (26-45) from the field and 50 percent (9-18) from three-point range. The Boxers held as much as a 15-point lead midway through the second, but had to hold off a Whitworth rally that saw the Pirates to within three with under two minutes to go.