Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
NEW HOPE CHRISTIAN AT PACIFIC
Game No. 8/Home Game No. 7
Mon., Dec. 19, 7 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats:
www.goboxers.com/livestats
PACIFIC VS. SOUTHWESTERN (TEXAS)
Game No. 9/Neutral Site Game No. 1
at Trinity National Invitational
Wed., Dec. 21, 6:00 p.m. (CST), Sams Gymnasium, San Antonio
Live Stats
www.trinitytigers.com/links/y6wdgl
PACIFIC AT TRINITY (TEXAS)
Game No. 10/Away Game No. 2
at Trinity National Invitational
Thurs., Dec. 22, 4:00 p.m. (CST), Sams Gymnasium, San Antonio
Live Stats
www.trinitytigers.com/links/y6wdgl
PACIFIC AT NEW HOPE CHRISTIAN
Game No. 11/Away Game No. 3
Thurs., Dec. 29, 8 p.m., Rexius Event Center, Eugene, Ore.
CHRISTMAS BREAK WILL BE ANYTHING BUT FOR THE BOXERS
The two weeks of Christmas Break will be a busy one for the Pacific men's basketball team as the Boxers will play four games over the next two weeks. The Boxers host New Hope Christian in their first ever meeting tonight before a string of three road games. Pacific will play a pair at the Trinity National Invitational in San Antonio this week before a return trip to New Hope Christian on Dec. 29.
BOXER BYTES
• Pacific snapped a two-game losing streak on Thursday, holding off a late Walla Walla rally to beat the Wolves on the road by a final of 63-61. Pacific shot 47.8 percent from the field in the contest, led by 26 points from
Colin Wester.
• Pacific continues to rank as one of the top shooting teams in the Northwest Conference. The Boxers lead the NWC and rank 19th among NCAA Division III teams with a .491 field goal percentage. Pacific ranks third in the NWC and 46th among Division III teams with a .377 three-point percentage.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
NEW HOPE CHRISTIAN
The Deacons, formerly Eugene Baptist, enter the week with a 2-13 record. Members of the NCCAA and the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference, the Deacons last played on Saturday night and took a 79-57 loss to Puget Sound. The Deacons were limited to 29 percent shooting by the nationally ranked Loggers, who forced 21 New Hope Christian turnovers. Corey Gantt led New Hope Christian with 16 points while Quincy Alexander scored 15 points. The Decaons were outrebounded by the Loggers 66-33. The Decaons two wins included a 52-47 home win over NAIA II William Jessup on Dec. 6 and 77-76 upset of then No. 10 (NAIA II) ranked Eastern Oregon on Nov. 18. Forest Stolk leads New Hope Christian in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12 points and 8.5 boards per game. As a team, the Deacons are averaging 58.4 points per game, but are being outscored by an average of 24 points per game outrebounded by an average of 15 rebounds per game. Monday's meeting will be the first ever between the Boxers and Deacons. The two teams will also meet in Eugene on Dec. 29. Mark Holmes is in his first season as New Hope Christian head coach.
SOUTHWESTERN (TEXAS)
The Pirates, NCAA Division III members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) from Georgetown, Texas, enters the week with a 1-9 record. Southwestern earned it's first win of the season on Saturday, knocking off Dallas 63-52. The Pirates made up a 25-19 halftime deficit by outscoring Dallas 44-27 in the second half. Michael Cantu led Southwestern with 16 points while Logan Hurley added 11 points. The night before, the Pirates took a 60-42 loss at home against Austin College. Hurley was the only Southwestern scorer in double figures, connecting for 15 points. Hurley leads the Southwestern offense, averaging 14.9 points per game. James Davenport is the team's leading rebounder with an average of eight boards per game. The Pirates are averaging 59.5 points per game and are being outscored by an average of 14 points per game. Bill Raleigh is in his 13th season as Southwestern head coach. This is the first ever meeting in men's basketball between Pacific and Southwestern.
TRINITY (TEXAS)
The Tigers, also members of the SCAC from San Antonio, enter the week with a 6-4 record. Trinity swept a pair of SCAC contests over the week. They opened on Friday with an 87-69 win over Dallas in their home opener. The Tigers opened the game on an 18-5 run and then used a 16-2 run at the end of the first half to open up a 50-24 halftime lead. Trinity shot 62.5 percent for the contest, led by 23 points from Zach Lambert. The Tigers faced a closer game from Austin College on Saturday, winning 54-53. Trinity held off a late run from the Kangaroos, who held Trinity without a made field goal for the final three minutes of the game. Jonathan Wilt led the Tigers with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Robert Kitzinger leads the Trinity offense with an average of 13 points per game. Wilt is the team's top rebounder at 5.5 boards per game. As a team, the Tigers are averaging 61.5 points and 31.8 rebounds per game. Pat Cunningham is in his 13th season as Trinity head coach. This will be the first meeting in men's basketball between the Boxers and Tigers.
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
WEST SIDE, EAST SIDE, ALL AROUND THE COURT: Colin Wester (Jr., Sherwood, Ore.) has turned into the go-to shooter for the Boxers so far this season and is ranking as one of the top overall shooters in the NWC. Wester enters the week ranked second in the league with an average of 17.4 points per game. He is ranked third in the NWC and 41st among NCAA Division III three-point shooters at 47.6 percent (20-42). He also ranks seventh in the NWC in field goals made (20) and eighth in field goal percentage at 54.7 percent (41-75). Against Walla Walla on Thursday, Wester led all scorers with 26 points on 10 of 13 from the field, 3 of 5 from three-point range and 3 of 4 from the charity stripe. So far this season, Wester has led the Boxers in scoring in three of the team's seven games. In addition to his shooting stats, Wester enters the week ranked second in the NWC in steals (16), eighth in minutes played (31.3 per game), ninth in free throw percentage (.749) and 10th in assists (20).
THROW DOWN, BIG MAN: The arrival of junior transfer Dustin Boswer (Jr., Bellingham, Wash.) in Forest Grove has played big dividends for the Boxers. Bowser, the tallest player on the roster at 6-foot-8, enters the week ranked fourth in the NWC in field goal shooting as he has connected on 58.3 percent of his shots. As would be expected, Bowser leads Pacific and ranks in a tie for 10th in the NWC in rebounding at 5.6 per game. Bowser finished as the Boxers' second leading scorer at Walla Walla on Thrusday with nine points and also had five rebounds.
BOXERS PLAY ON WITHOUT BARTLETT, BEATTY: Pacific will move on through their 2011-12 season without two of their most experienced players.
Carson Bartlett (Sr., St. Helens, Ore.) suffered a season-ending knee injury on Pacific's first day of practice on Oct. 16. The injury occurred on the opposite knee that he injured three years ago. Bartlett was Pacific's second leading scorer during the 2010-11 season at shooting guard, averaging 13.5 points per game while making a respectable 47.3 percent of his shots from the field.
Andrew Beatty (Sr., Lynnwood, Wash.), Pacific's starting point guard, was lost for the year when he broke his right wrist in hard collision and fall taken in the Boxers' win over Walla Walla on Nov. 26. Beatty proved an expect so far in the year in running the Pacific offense. He averaged three points and two rebounds per game and had nine assists and four steals against just three turnovers. Beatty, who transferred to Pacific from Skagit Valley CC in 2010, is expected to apply for a medical hardship.
IMPROVING IN THE WIN COLUMN: Thursday's win at Walla Walla proved to be a milestone win for the Boxers. It was the fifth win of the season for Pacific, which surpassed the total of four wins the Boxers had in 2010-11 in Head Coach
Tim Cleary's first season. The team's 5-2 start is the best for Pacific since the 2005-06 season when the Boxers also started 5-2 in Jason Lowery's first season as head coach.
SOLID SHOOTING TEAM: Pacific continues to rank as one of the top shooting teams not only in the conference, but also among all NCAA Division III squads. Pacific enters the week leading the NWC with a .491 field goal percentage, third with a .377 three-point percentage and fourth with a .733 free throw percentage. In the NCAA Division III statistical rankings for games through Dec. 11, the Boxers were ranked 19th out of 405 teams in field goal percentage and 46th in three-point percentage.
GOOD DEFENSIVE TEAM: Where the Boxers are getting things done on the shooting, they are also performing on the defensive side of the ball. Pacific ranked 23rd in the NCAA Division III stats in scoring defense, allowing teams an average of 58.5 per game. In Pacific's seven games, the Boxers have held their opponent under 6o points three times. On Nov. 22, the Boxers held Northwest Christian to 37 points, the lowest point total in their program's history.
BOXERS TO AIR ALL NORTHWEST CONFERENCE GAMES: Once again this season, Pacific will air all 16 men's and all 16 women's Northwest Conference games on the Internet. Live audio webcasts will be available for home and away league contests at www.goboxers.com/webcasts. Matt Richert enters his second year calling Pacific basketball after two seasons as the Boxers' football radio voice. Richert also serves as Pacific's assistant sports information director.
PACIFIC PICKED NINTH IN NWC PRESEASON POLL: Northwest Conference coaches have picked Pacific to finish ninth in the league this season according to results of the annual coaches poll, released on October. The Boxers received 10 of a possible 80 votes in the poll. Coaches voted for all teams but their own. Whitworth, under new head coach Matt Logie, was picked to win third straight NWC title. The Pirates earned six first place votes and a total of 67 points. Up-and-coming Whitman was picked second, earning three first place votes and 61 points.
