Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
PACIFIC AT GEORGE FOX
Game No. 16/Away Game No. 6
Tues., Jan. 22, 7 p.m., Wheeler Sports Center, Newberg, Ore.
Live Stats:
bit.ly/WmAzp0
Live Audio Webcast:
www.goboxers.com/webcasts
Live Video Webcast:
client.stretchinternet.com/client/georgefox.portal#
PACIFIC AT WILLAMETTE
Game No. 17/Away Game No. 7
Fri., Jan. 25, 8 p.m., Cone Field House, Salem, Ore.
Live Stats:
livestats.willamette.edu/live/mbb/stats/
Live Audio Webcast:
www.goboxers.com/webcasts
Live Video Webcast:
livestats.willamette.edu/live/mbb/video/
GEORGE FOX AT PACIFIC
Game No. 18/Home Game No. 8
Sat., Jan. 26, 8 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats:
www.goboxers.com/livestats
Live Audio Webcast:
www.goboxers.com/webcasts
Live Video Webcast:
www.goboxers.com/webcasts
BOXERS FACE TOUGH WEEK WITH THREE NWC CONTESTS
As they finish the first half of the Northwest Conference schedule and begin the second, the Pacific men's basketball team faces a tough stretch of three league games over five days this week. The Boxers travel to George Fox on Tuesday and Willamette on Friday to end the first half before hosting the Bruins again on Saturday to open the second half of the conference season.
BOXER BYTES
• Pacific saw a six-point halftime lead disappear at Lewis & Clark on Tuesday night as the Pioneers limited the Boxers to 27 percent shooting in the second half to steal a 63-61 victory. Pacific shot 53 percent in the first half and 41 percent for the game, led by 20 points from
Colin Wester.
• The Boxers could not be stopped offensively on Saturday night, shooting 57.4 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from three-point range en route to an 89-74 victory over Puget Sound.
Danny Brakebush led five Pacific players in double figures with 23 points.
• Pacific enters the week as a top tier team in the NWC both offensively and defensively. The Boxers rank fourth in field goal percentage (.435) and third in three-point percentage (.375). Defensively, Pacific is third in points allowed (66.8) and opponent field goal percentage (.420).
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
GEORGE FOX
The Bruins enter the week with a 9-6 overall record and in second place in the NWC with a 5-2 mark. After losing two of three to open the month, the Bruins have won three straight NWC games. George Fox pulled away from a 31-31 tie late in the game with Anthony Sanchez hitting a three-pointer in the final minute to beat Puget Sound on Friday, 77-74. The Bruins hit 56.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range in the second half and overcame 16 turnovers. Sanchez led the Bruins with 17 points while Josh Garlington had 10 rebounds. George Fox engaged Pacific Lutheran in another close game on Saturday, holding off a late Lutes' rally to claim the 66-61 victory. The Bruins shot 51.9 percent from the field in the first half, but just 33.3 percent in the fianl 20 minutes. Four Bruins' players finished with 11 points apiece. Sean Atkins leads the George Fox offense, averaging 17.1 points per game to rank second in the NWC. Seth Brent is the Bruins' leading rebounder at 6.6 rebounds per game. As a team, the Bruins are averaging 70.8 points per game and 36.0 rebounds per game and are averaging 42.1 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from thtree-point range. Mark Sundquist is in his 13th season as George Fox head coach.
ALL-TIME SERIES: George Fox leads 41-40
AGAINST CLEARY: George Fox leads 4-0
LAST MEETING: George Fox won 79-66 in Newberg, Ore., on Feb. 3, 2012
WILLAMETTE
The improving Bearcats enter the week in sixth place in the NWC at 3-4 and are 6-10 overall. Willamette dropped both weekend games to slip back in the NWC standings. On Friday, the Bearcats proved little match for a No. 4 ranked Whitworth squad that shot 50 percent from the field and from three-point range as the Pirates rolled to a 88-69 win. Willamette shot 47.2 percent from the field, but were outrebounded 37-31 and turned the ball over 17 times. Elliott Babcock-Krenk and Sean Dart each scored 13 to lead the Bearcats. On Saturday, Whitman's fast style of play caused fits as Willamette turned the ball over 23 times and were outrebounded 43-34 in a 94-87 loss to the Missionaries. The Bearcats shot well, finishing by shooting 49.1 percent from the field led by 23 points from Terrell Malley. Malley leads the Willamette offense with an average of 15.3 points per game. Sean Dart averages 12.8 points per game and is the team's leading rebounder. His 8.8 boards per contest, leading the NWC and also ranks second with a .617 field goal percentage. As a team, the Bearcats are averaging 70.8 points and 39.3 rebounds per game and are shooting 41.8 percent from the field. Kip Ioane is in his fourth year as Willamette head coach.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Willamette leads 72-32
AGAINST CLEARY: Willamette leads 3-1
LAST MEETING: Pacific won 69-64 at Forest Grove on Feb. 4, 2012
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
TWO MEETINGS IN A WEEK A RARITY: Fans are not seeing double on the Pacific schedule. The Boxers will face George Fox this week thanks in part to a special celebration of basketball being put together by the NCAA. As part of the 75th anniversary of the first NCAA Basketball Championship, this year's Division III championship game will be held on Apr. 7 in Atlanta, the day before the Division I championship. With the change, the timetable for the Northwest Conference's championship tournament was moved up a week to Feb. 21 and 23. That forced the move of the Boxers' final scheduled games, against George Fox on Feb. 22 and Willamette on Feb. 23. The George Fox was moved to Tuesday in Newberg, while the Willamette game was moved to Tues., Feb. 5, in Forest Grove.
WESTER LEADS THE WAY: The shooting prowess of
Colin Wester (Sr., Sherwood, Ore.) paid big dividends for the Boxers in their two games last week. Wester. In Tuesday's 63-61 loss to Lewis & Clark on Tuesday, Wester led the way with 20 points, connecting on 8 of 16 from the field and 3 of 7 from three-point range to go along with eight rebounds, three assists and a Pacific season-high six steals. In Saturday's victory over Puget Sound, Wester finished with 16 points on 3 of 5 from the field and a solid 9 of 11 from the free throw line. He also had two rebounds, four assists and two steals in the victory. The efforts were the second and third double-figure scoring performances in the last four games. Wester enters the week ranked seventh in the NWC in scoring with 14 points per game and 10th in rebounding with 5.8 boards per game.
CONTINUING TO IMPRESS: The impressive shooting ability of freshman
Danny Brakebush (Fr., Portland, Ore.) continues to impress all that follow the Boxers. Brakebush posted double-digit scoring performances in both games last week. He led the Boxers in Saturday's victory over Puget Sound, scoring 23 points on 7 of 12 from the field, 4 of 7 from three-point range and 5 of 7 from the free throw line. He also added three assists and a steal in the win. The Central Catholic product continues to be one of the most dynamic young scorers in the conference. He enters the week leading the Boxers and ranking fourth in the NWC with an average of 16.5 points per game. He leads the league in three-point percentage (.464), ranks second in three-pointers made (45) and fourth in free throw percentage (.824).
BRAKEBUSH SELECTED TO D3HOOPS.COM TEAM OF THE WEEK: Danny Brakebush's impressive performances against Pacific Lutheran on Jan. 11 and Linfield on Jan. 12 earned the freshman guard selection selection to the D3Hoops.com Team of the Week for the week of Jan. 7-13. Brakebush finished the week scoring 43 points in the two games while shooting 62.5 percent from both the field (15-24) and the three-point line (10-16). He scored a Pacific season-high 26 points in the Boxers road win at Pacific Lutheran, hitting 9 of 15 from the field and 5 of 10 from three-point range. While selected to the national honor roll for the week. Brakebush's performances finished as honorable mention for the Northwest Conference's Student-Athlete of the Week honor for the same week.
PLEASING TO THE HOME CROWD: Each of the last two weekends, the Pacific home fans have been treated to a pair of impressive looking dunks. In the Jan. 12 win over Linfield,
Dustin Bowser (Sr., Bellingham, Wash.) slammed home a missed
Colin Wester lay-up to bring the crowd to their feet. On Saturday in the victory over Puget Sound,
Cameron Hayes (Jr., Milton, Wash.) broke away with a steal and dunk early in the second half, giving Pacific a 19-point lead over the Loggers. Clips of the two dunks on the Pacific Athletics YouTube page have combined for nearly a thousand views. The video of Hayes' dunk from Saturday can be found at
youtu.be/cbiXW9hQ_E4. The video of Bowser's dunk from the previous weekend can be viewed at
youtu.be/MdO6pbITYMk.
RE-EMERGING AGAINST THE LOGGERS: After not making much of a difference for the Boxers over the previous three weeks,
Daniel Zitani (Jr., Oakland, Calif.) emerged to play a key role in the Boxers' win on Saturday over Puget Sound. Zitani came off the bench to score 15 points and pull down six rebounds in 21 minutes of action, shooting 7 of 10 from the field. It was his best effort since Dec. 29 agaisnt Walla Walla when Zitani scored 13 points and pulled down six boards. The junior transfer from Diablo Valley CC continues to be a key role player for the Boxers on the defensive side of the ball. He ranks ninth in the NWC with an average of 5.8 rebounds per game and ranks fourth in the league with his 37 offensive boards.
STRONG ON THE GLASS: Solid rebounding continues to be a touchstone for the Boxers' success in 2012-13. As a team, the Boxers enter the week ranked fourth with an average of 38.4 rebounds per game. Pacific is among the strongest in the league in offensive rebounds, ranked second with an average of 13.5 per game. The team's rebounding margin of +7.8 leads the conference and ranked the Boxers 19th in the Jan. 17 NCAA Division III statistics report. Pacific has been outrebounded by their opponents just four times in 15 games, with the Boxers going 1-3 in those contests. On three occasions, the Boxers have finished with more offensive rebounds than their opponents had defensive rebounds. Individually, the Boxers continue to rank three players in the conference's top-10.
Dustin Bowser enters the week ranked seventh at 6.5 boards per game.
Daniel Zitani ranks ninth at 5.8 rebounds per game while
Colin Wester is 10th, also at 5.8 boards per game.
SOLID OFFENSIVELY: While Pacific's defense has been impressive, the offense has shown marked signs of improvement over the previous year. Pacific enters the week ranked fourth in field goal percentage, connecting on 43.5 percent of their shots. The team is also third in three-point shooting at 37.5 percent. The Boxers are posting solid percentage while having the second fewest field goal and three-point attempts of any team in the NWC.
A RECORD SHOOTING NIGHT: It wasn't until after the Nov. 17 home game against La Verne was in the books that anyone realized how well Pacific shot in their home opener. The Boxers finished shooting a single game record 69.2 percent from the field, connecting on 27 of 39 shots. That performance surpassed the record 68.9 percent set against Whitman back on Jan. 24, 1987. Pacific made 13 of 22 in the first half (59.1 percent), but ended up nearly perfect in the second half as the Boxers shot 82.4 percent (14-17). The Boxers also finished the night going 5 of 9 from three-point range.
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 call descriptions for the Boxers' Northwest Conference contests this season.
CLEARY APPEARING ON WEEKLY SMALL COLLEGE HOOPS PODCAST: Head Coach
Tim Cleary is one of five coaches regularly featured on a new Portland small college basketball podcast hosted by Comcast SportsNet NW hoops analyst Greg Crawford. The Portland Metro Small College Hoops podcast runs live every Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. the live stream and archived podcasts can be accessed at
www.blogtalkradio.com/smallcollegehoops.
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.
