Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook

Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook

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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
PACIFIC AT OCCIDENTAL
Game No. 8/Away Game No. 6
Tues., Dec. 17, 7 p.m., Rush Gymnasium, Los Angeles, Calif.
Live Stats & Video

BOXERS LOOK TO COMPLETE SOCAL TRIP WITH 5TH STRIAGHT
The Pacific men's basketball team continued their December roll, gaining wins over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday and Pacifica on Sunday on the first two legs on their second Southern California road trip.  The Boxers will look to extend their current win streak to five games and complete a Southland sweep as they face Occidental on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

BOXER BYTES
• Pacific overcame a 13-point deficit and used a 12-0 run late to score their 72-66 victory over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday.  Daniel Zitani led the way with 28 points and 11 rebounds while Coby Proctor scored all 12 of his points in the second half, including five critical points in that deciding 12-0 run.

• Riley Grandinetti's three-point shooting helped lead the Boxers to their fourth straight win, an 85-78 victory over Pacifica.  Grandinetti hit on 6 of 9 from the field, 5 of 8 from three-point range and 6 of 7 from the free throw line, including four free throws in the final minute that helped seal the victory.

• Daniel Zitani continues to be one of the most dominant players in the NWC, leading the league in both scoring (21.4 points per game) and rebounding (8.6 per game).  Zitani also ranks second in the NWC with eight blocked shots and fourth with a .540 field goal percentage.

• Mitch Wettig continues to play a significant factor at small forward.  Wettig topped his weekend with a 17-point performance at Pacifica.  He enters the week leading the NWC with 40 defensive rebounds, is second with 7.7 rebounds per game and fifth with 54 total rebounds.

• Riley Grandinetti is establishing himself as the Boxers' top outside threat.  He enters the week tied for fifth with 18 three-pointers and seventh with a .486 three-point percentage.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
OCCIDENTAL
The Tigers, Division III members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, enter the week with a 3-2 record.  Occidental will come off a 10-day hiatus when they take on the Boxers on Tuesday.  They opened conference play on Dec. 4, scoring an 80-74 victory over Caltech.  The Tigers had to watch their back as the much-improved Beavers came within three points late in the game.  Kris Montoya led five Tigers scoring double figures with 21 points, which included 8 of 12 from the free throw line.  Occidental improved to 2-0 in the SCIAC with a close 72-70 victory over La Verne.  The game came right down to the final seconds at two Juwan Rice free throws with one second left proved the difference in the victory.  Montoya once again led the way with 27 points.  The forwards lead the Tigers in scoring, averaging 24 points per game.  Rice is the Tigers' leading rebounder, averaging 8.2 boards per contest.  As a team, Occidental is averaging 72.8 points and 38 rebounds per game.  Brian Newhall is in his 26th season as Occidental head coach.  This is Pacific's first meeting with Occidental in 22 years in men's basketball and their first as a NCAA Division III school.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Pacific leads 3-1    AGAINST CLEARY: First Meeting
LAST MEETING: Pacific won 76-69 at Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 30, 1991

PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
THREE FOR THE MONEY: In his first seven games with the Boxers, Riley Grandinetti (Jr., Murray, Utah) has proven himself to be the team's most potent three-point threat.  The transfer from Southwestern Oregon CC used the longball to help lead the Boxers to their 85-78 victory on Sunday over Pacifica, scoring 23 points on 6 of 9 from the field and 5 of 8 from three-point range.  He also went 6 of 7 from the free throw line, including four in the final minute which allowed the Boxers to keep their winning margin.  In the two games over the weekend, Grandinetti finished with 31 points, going 8 of 15 from the field.  Grandinetti enters the week leading the Boxers with a .486 three-point percentage, which also ranks seventh in the NWC and 37th among NCAA Division III players.  He also ranks fifth with 18 three-pointers made.  Also an exceptional passer, Grandinetti is tied for eighth in the NWC with 20 assists and is second in the league with a 5.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE THREAT: Daniel Zitani (Sr., Oakland, Calif.) put up exceptional numbers for the Boxers once again as he registered double-doubles in both games in California over the weekend.  Zitani led all players in the 72-66 victory over Pomona-Pitzer on Friday, scoring 28 points to go along eith 11 rebounds.  He shot 11 of 19 from the field and 6 of 8 from the free throw line.  The next night, Zitani finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the Boxers' 85-78 win over Pacifica.  The efforts were Zitani's second and third double-doubles of the season.  The senior continues to build his resume for a potential First Team All-NWC selection.  He enters the week leading the NWC in both scoring (21.4 points per game) and rebounding (8.6 rebounds per game).  He also ranks first in field goals made (54), points (150) and total rebounds (60), second in free throws made (40), offensive rebounds (23) and blocked shots (8) and fourth in field goal percentage (.540) and defensive rebounds (37).

PROCTOR AT THE POINT: Coby Proctor (Jr., Sublimity, Ore.) came through big for the Boxers in the team's win over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday.  The junior guard scored all 12 of his points in the second, going 4 of 5 from the field and 4 of 5 from the free throw line.  He played a key role in a 12-0 run late in the second half that allowed the Boxers to erase a 13-point deficit for the win.  Proctor has once again solidified his role as Pacific's starting point guard after holidng the title part-time each of the last two seasons.  A starter in six of the team's seven games, Proctor enters the week averaging 4.7 points per game and is hooting 67.7 percent from the field, making 12 of 18 thus far.

SMALL FORWARD, BIG DIVIDENDS: After a quiet effort against Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, Mitch Wettig (Jr., Bend, Ore.) came alive to score big in the Boxers' win over Pacifica on Sunday.  Wettig finished with 17 points and six rebounds in the win to go along with an assist, a block and a steal.  Wettig continues to play a key role for Pacific, especially on defense.  He enters the week ranked second in the NWC, behind teammate Daniel Zitani, with an average of 7.7 rebounds per game.  He leads the league with 40 defensive rebounds, is ranked fifth with 54 total rebounds and 10th with an average of 27.9 minutes per game.

STRONG DEFENSIVE TEAM: Pacific continues to be a solid defensive team.  The Boxers continue to lead the NWC and are ranked 28th among NCAA Division III teams by limiting opponents to a .386 field goal percentage.  The Boxers also rank second in the NWC and 48th among Division III teams by limiting opponents to 39.4 percent from the three-point line.  In addition, the Boxers are also limiting opponents to 62.1 points per game, which also leads the NWC and ranks 27th among Division III squads.

BALL SECURITY: Pacific is giving opponents little chance to gain the ball outside of missed shot opportunities.  The Boxers enter the week leading the NWC and 35th in Division III with just 11.1 turnovers per game.  In seven games, the Boxers have finished under 120 turnovers three times and finished with a season-low seven turnovers against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Nov. 22.

KEEPING IT CLEAN: Pacific is responding to the new national emphasis by referees on clean play by keeping their fouls down.  The Boxers are committing just 15.4 personal fouls per game, ranking the Boxers first in the NWC and 12th among NCAA Division III teams.  Pacific also ranks 25th in Division III for fewest total fouls, having committed just 108 on the season.  Conversely, Pacific's opponents have committed 141 fouls, an average of 20.1 fouls per game.  Additionally, Pacific has yet to see a player foul out this season.

STREAKING: Pacific's current four-game win streak is their longest since the beginning of the 2012-13 season where the Boxers won four straight in November over La Verne (66-58 on Nov. 17), Whittier (74-72 in Honolulu on Nov. 23), Cal Lutheran (73-70 in Honolulu on Nov. 24) and Simpson (Calif.) (80-64 on Nov. 24).  The last time Pacific has won five or more games in a row was during the 1999-2000 season when the Boxers won six games.

THE 30-WIN PLATEAU: Head Coach Tim Cleary reached another plateau in his Pacific tenure, winning his 30th game with the Boxers' 53-35 victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Nov. 22.  Cleary has seen the Boxers excel over the last two seasons, compiling a .625 winning percentage since the start of the 2012-13 campaign.

SCIAC STRONG: It is no coincidence that the 2013-14 schedule is heavy on teams from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).  The Boxers play five of the SCIAC's  nine teams.  They faced La Verne and Caltech on their season-opening road trip in November, hosted Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Nov. 22 and is facing Pomona-Pitzer and Occidental on their current road trip.  The schedule is a respone to new emphasis by the Division III championship committee to focus more on in division opponents.  Of the Boxers' 25 games this year, 22 will be against Division III opponents.

CLEARY APPEARING ON WEEKLY SMALL COLLEGE HOOPS PODCAST: Head Coach Tim Cleary is one of five coaches regularly featured on a 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 9:30 p.m. (Cleary usually appears on the show in the 9:52 p.m. time slot).  The live stream and archived podcasts can be accessed at www.blogtalkradio.com/smallcollegehoops.

SEASON HONORS: The following Pacific players have earned weekly honors during the course of the 2013-14 season:

Daniel Zitani: NWC Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Nov. 11-17.  Zitani averaged 20.2 points per game and led the Boxers in scoring in two of the three games of their season-opening Southern California road trip.

PACIFIC PICKED FIFTH IN NWC PRESEASON POLL: Northwest Conference coaches have picked Pacific to repeat their fifth place finish in the annual preseason poll released in early November.  The Boxers received 30 of a possible 72 points in the poll after finishing 15-10 overall and 9-7 in the NWC last season.  Whitworth is selected to repeat as conference champion, receiving 70 votes and seven of the league's nine first place votes.  Whitman is picked second with 58 points and two first place votes.  Lewis & Clark was picked third with 48 points, followed by George Fox (44), Pacific (30), Puget Sound (27), Pacific Lutheran (23), Linfield (19) and Willamette (14).
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