Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
PACIFIC VS. HARDIN-SIMMONS
Game No. 1/Neutral Site Game No. 1
Fri., Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m., Wheeler Sports Center, Newberg, Ore.
LA VERNE AT PACIFIC
Game No. 2/Home Game No. 1
Sat., Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats:
www.goboxers.com/livestats
Live Video:
www.goboxers.com/webcasts
BOXERS WELCOME DIVISION III FOES FOR SEASON OPENERS
After performing well in an exhibition game with Portland State on Friday, the Pacific men's basketball team will officially tip off the 2012-13 season this weekend with a pair non-conference games against Division III teams. The Boxers open on Friday by playing Hardin-Simmons of Abilene, Texas, in a neutral site game at George Fox University. Pacific opens the home schedule on Saturday against La Verne of the Sourthen California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. George Fox and UC Santa Cruz will precede the Saturday Pacific game at the Stoller Center.
BOXER BYTES
• Pacific performed well in their exhibition game at Portland State, falling to the Division I Vikings 77-58. The Boxers shot 41.7 percent from the field and 13 of 15 from the free throw line. The Boxers were outrebounded by just a 27-26 margin.
•
Danny Brakebush had an outstanding Pacific debut, leading all scorers with 19 points on 8 of 10 from the field and 3 of 5 from three-point range while playing 23 minutes off of the bench.
•
Dustin Bowser led a much-improved Pacific post staff with nine points and five rebounds in 18 minutes.
• The game at Portland State was Pacific's first match-up against the Vikings since 2003. The game counted for the Division I Vikings, but was an exhbition contest for the Boxers.
• This weekend's contests will be the first-ever meetings in men's basketball between Pacific and Hardin-Simmons and La Verne.
• Pacific returns 10 players from the team that finished the 2011-12 season that saw the Boxers finish 9-17 overall and tied for seventh in the NWC at 3-13.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
HARDIN-SIMMONS
The Cowboys of the NCAA Division III American Southwest Conference will open their season on Friday against Pacific and will play an exhibition game on Tuesday against Division I Sam Houston State. Hardin-Simmons finished with a 21-7 record, their best record as a Division III school, and finished third in the ASC's West Division at 13-8. The Cowboys advanced to the ASC Tournament championship game, falling to McMurry 86-81. Hardin-Simmons enters the season picked to finish second in the ASC in the preseason coaches poll. The Cowboys will be led by senior guard John Derr, who averaged 9.5 points per game in 28 games in a reserve role. Senior forward George Nelson also returns. He averaged 8.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in 28 starts. Craig Carse is in his fifth season as Hardin-Simmons head coach.
ALL-TIME SERIES: First Meeting
AGAINST CLEARY: First Meeting
LA VERNE
The Leopards of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will open their 2012-13 season on Friday against Willamette before coming out to Forest Grove on Saturday. La Verne is 1-1 in a pair of exhibition games earlier this month, taking a 74-50 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 1 before scoring a 73-53 win over the Afghanistan National Team on Saturday. The Leopards shot 50 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from three-point rnage beind a 22-point performance by guard Jake Veith. Veith is the top returning players for La Verne after averaging 5.8 points per game in his sophomore season. The Leopards finished the 2011-12 season with a 6-19 record and seventh place in the SCIAC at 3-11. Richard Reed is in his sixth season as La Verne head coach.
ALL-TIME SERIES: First Meeting
AGAINST CLEARY: First Meeting
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
AN IMPRESSIVE DEBUT: While Head Coach
Tim Cleary opted to go with experience in the starting lineup, that didn't phase newcomer
Danny Brakebush (Fr., Portland, Ore.), who made an impressive debut in red and black. Brakebush came off the bench to lead all scorers with 19 points on 8 of 10 from the field and 3 of 5 from three-point range. He also had one assist and two steals against the Division I VIkings. Brakebush comes to Pacific from Portland's Central Catholic High School where he was a First Team Oregon 6A All-State selection for the Rams.
POST PRESENCE: The return of forward
Dustin Bowser (Sr., Bellingham, Wash.) will pay dividends for a Pacific team that is much richer in post players in 2012-13. Bowser started against Portland State on Friday and finished in nine points and five rebounds in 18 minutes with an assist and a steal. Most of his offensive came from the free throw line as he went 5 of 7 from the stripe to lead Pacific. Bowser and
Charles Mosley (Sr., Hillsboro, Ore.) are the Boxers' top returning post players. Bowser played in 21 games, averaging 6.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Mosley was an Honorable Mention All-NWC selection, averaging 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while starting all 25 games.
A Pacific squad that has traditionally been on the short side will be helped by four players who stand 6-foot-6 or taller. In addition to Bowser, returner
Marc Eppinger (So., Camas, Wash.) stands 6-foot-7. Junior transfer
Daniel Zitani (Jr., Oakland, Calif.) stands 6-foot-6 and freshman
Anthony Zerkel (Fr., Carson, Wash.) stands 6-foot-9.
AGAINST DIVISION I OPPONENTS: Friday's game against Portland State was be the second exhibition contest against a Division I team in a row for the Boxers and the third in the last four years. Pacific opened the 2011-12 campaign with a 64-33 loss at Oregon State on Nov. 14, 2011. On Nov. 14, 2008, the Boxers took a 100-68 exhbition loss at Boise State. Unbeknownst at the time, Pacific played the game against current head coach
Tim Cleary, who served as an assistant coach for the Broncos.
SEASON PREVIEW: Click Here to read the 2012-13 Pacific men's basketball season preview.
ALL HOME GAMES TO BE VIDEO STREAMED: For the first time, Pacific will provide a live video stream of all 10 home men's basketball games as well as all 10 home women's basketball games. The stream can be accessed by visiting goboxers.com/webcasts. The stream for non-conference games will be provided without play-by-play audio. Matt Richert will return to the microphone to play descriptions for the Boxers' Northwest Conference contests this season.
PACIFIC PICKED EIGHTH IN NWC PRESEASON POLL: Northwest Conference coaches have picked Pacific to finish eighth in the league this season according to results of the annual coaches poll, released on Monday. The Boxers received 20 of a possible 80 votes in the poll, finishing seven points of ahead of Willamette, who was selected ninth. Linfield was selected seventh with 22 points while George Fox is four points ahead of the Boxers, picked to finish sixth. Whitworth was picked to win their fourth consecutive NWC title, gaining seven first place votes and a total of 70 points. Whitman is selected to finish second with 54 points, including two first place votes.
