Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook
QUICK LINKS: Roster |
Schedule & Results |
2013-14 Statistics |
NWC Standings |
NWC Statistics |
D3Hoops.com
THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
WHITWORTH AT PACIFIC
Game No. 10/Home Game No. 4
Fri., Jan. 3, 8 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats |
Live Video
WHITMAN AT PACIFIC
Game No. 11/Home Game No. 5
Fri., Jan. 4, 6 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats |
Live Video
BOXERS RED HOT 'N' ROLLIN' ENTERING THE NWC SEASON
The Pacific men's basketball team enters the Northwest Conference season on a roll as the Boxers are off to their best start in the
Tim Cleary era and a six-game win streak, their longest since the 1999-2000 season. The Boxers will be tested in their opening NWC weekend, hosting defending conference champ Whitworth on Friday and an uptempo Whitman squad on Saturday.
BOXER BYTES
•
Riley Grandinetti's three-pointer with 14 seconds left quelled a 14-0 UC Santa Cruz run and allowed the Boxers to escape with a 62-60 victory on Sunday Pacific led by as much as 13 points midway through the second half before the Banana Slugs put the run together to challenge for the win.
•
Daniel Zitani led the Boxers in scoring for the seventh time this season, scoring 17 points to go along with seven rebounds, three steals and a block. Zitani continues to lead the NWC in both scoring and rebounding with averages of 21.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
• Pacific's 7-2 record is the team's best start since the 2011-12 season, Head Coach
Tim Cleary's first year as head coach. The Boxers' current win streak of six games is the team's best since the Boxers' 1999-2000 NCAA Division III Tournament team.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
WHITWORTH
The defending NWC champs enter the week with a 6-3 record and recently went 1-1 against two of the nation's top teams at the D3Hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas. On Saturday, the Pirates played well in a competitive 93-75 loss to No. 1 ranked Wis.-Stevens Point. Whitworth led 45-43 at halftime and held as much as an eight-point lead early, but the Pointers outscored the Pirates 50-30 in the second half and limited Whitworth to 33.3 percent shooting in the period. Colton McCargar led the Pirates with 19 points. On Sunday, the Pirates scored an 84-77 victory over Wis.-Platteville. Whitworth pulled away from a 43-43 halftime tie thanks to free throws, shooting 15 of 19 in the period and 23 of 29 in the game. McCargar led five Whitworth players in double figures with 21 points. McCargar led the Pirates in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.8 points and five rebounds per game. As a team, the Pirates are averaging 74.7 points and 34 rebounds per game, but are only outscoring opponents by an average of 4.7 points per game. The Pirates are a great free throw shooting team, leading the NWC at 76.6 percent. Matt Logie is in his third season as Whitworth head coach.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Whitworth leads 47-24Â Â Â
AGAINST CLEARY: Whitworth leads 4-0
LAST MEETING: Whitworth won 98-63 at Spokane, Wash., on Feb. 2, 2013
WHITMAN
The Missionaries enter the week with a 5-4 record after splitting a pair of games at the D3Hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas. Whitman opened their tournament run on Saturday with a 96-88 victory over Wis.-Superior. The Missionaries gunned themselves to a 60-33 halftime lead, shooting 50 percent from the field (20-40), but had to hold off a 55-36 run by Superior as the Missionaries shot just 34.4 percent in the second half. Matt Mounier led five Whitman players in double figures with 30 points. On Sunday, the Missionaries pushed No. 1 Wis.-Stevens Point to the brink on Sunday, but dropped an 89-79 heartbreaker to the Pointers. Josh Duckworth forced overtime with a lay-up with 1.7 seconds remaining, but the Pointers outscored the Missionaries 22-12 in the extra period to take the win. Duckworth scored 22 points while Mounier and Tochi Oti each scored 18 points. Mounier leads the Missionaries in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game. Evan Martin is the team's top rebounder, averaging 5.4 rebounds per game. The Missionaries have played most of the season without 2012-13 NWC MVP Ben Eisenhardt, who has played only one game due to injury. As a team, Whitman is averaging 84 points and 35.3 rebounds per game and is outscoring opponents by an average of eight points per game. Eric Bridgeland is in his sixth season as Whitman head coach.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Pacific leads 53-42Â Â Â
AGAINST CLEARY: Whitman leads 3-1
LAST MEETING: Whitman won 101-68 in Walla Walla, Wash., on Feb. 1, 2013
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
THE HELPFUL HARDWARE MAN: Award-winning basketball has become a hallmark for
Daniel Zitani (Sr., Oakland, Calif.) as the senior forward has earned NWC Student-Athlete of the Week honors three times so far this season. Zitani was tabbed for both NWC honors as well as selection to the D3Hoops.com Team of the Week for the week of Dec. 9-15 for his two double-doubles in the Boxers' victories over Pomona-Pitzer and Pacifica. Zitani then repeated as the NWC honoree after he finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds in the Boxers' won over Occidental on Dec. 17. He led the Boxers in both categories again in the 62-60 win on Sunday over UC Santa Cruz, finishing with 17 points and seven rebounds. Zitani enters the first weekend of the NWC as the league's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 21.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. He also leads the conference in field goals made (68), free throws made (51), total points (190), total rebounds (79), offensive rebounds (30) and defensive rebounds (49). Additionally, Zitani is tied for second in the NWC with 12 blocked shots and is third with his average of 32 minutes per game and a .544 field goal percentage.
MONEY BALL:Â Sunday proved to be a relatively off night for
Riley Grandinetti (Jr., Murray, Utah), but the junior hit the right shot at the right time to give the Boxers. Grandinetti finished with nine points against UC Santa Cruz, hitting just 3 of 5 from the field. While well below his average of 12.2 points per game, Grandinetti came through with the game-winning three-pointer with 14 seconds left, hitting from the corner to bring Pacific from one point down to up 62-60. In his nine games for the Boxers, the transfer from Coos Bay's Southwestern Oregon CC has become a big play maker and shooter for the Boxers. Ranking second on the team in scoring, Grandinetti enters the week ranked fifth in the NWC with 26 three-pointers made and sixth with a .491 three-point percentage. He has also become one of the league's best passers, tied for eighth in the NWC with 23 assists and second with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 5.0.
SUPER SUB: Jordan Batey (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) is starting to develop into a key sub for the Boxers when they need a boost in their scoring. Batey came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points in the Boxers' win over UC Santa Cruz on Sunday. He did most of his damage from the lines, hitting two three-pointers and going 4 of 5 from the free throw line. A transfer from Salem's Chemeketa CC, Batey enters the week averaging 5.7 points per game to lead the Pacific reserves. He also ranks as one of the top free throw shooters in the NWC, ranking fourth with an .857 percentage (18-21).
BOARD ALONG WITH MITCH: Mitch Wettig (Jr., Bend, Ore.) continues to be a force for the Boxers on the defensive end of the floor. Wettig enters the week ranked third in the NWC in rebounding, averaging seven boards per game. He is second in the league in defensive rebounds with 46 and third with 63 total rebounds. In addition, Wettig is tied for 10th with four blocked shots. On the offensive end of the floor, Wettig enters the week ranked ninth in the NWC in three-point shooting at 45 percent (9-20). Wettig had a relatively quiet night in Sunday's victory over UC Santa Cruz, scoring seven points to go along with four rebounds.
STRONG DEFENSIVE TEAM: Pacific continues to be a solid defensive team. The Boxers enter the week continuing to lead the NWC in points allowed, at 62.8 points per game, and in opponent field goal percentage at .394. Additionally, Pacific is second in the NWC by limiting teams to a .302 three-point percentage. In the Dec. 15 NCAA Division III statistics, the Boxers were ranked 28th among NCAA Division III teams by limiting opponents to a .386 field goal percentage and 48th among Division III teams by limiting opponents to 39.4 percent from the three-point line.
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 with just 11 turnovers per game. In nine games, the Boxers have finished under 10 turnovers four 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 personal fouls per game, ranking the Boxers first in the NWC and 12th among NCAA Division III teams (as of the Dec. 15 stats report). Conversely, Pacific's opponents have averaged 19.1 fouls per game. Additionally, Pacific has yet to see a player foul out this season.
STREAKING: Pacific enters the week on a six-game win streak. The streak is the team's best since the 1999-2000 season, when the Boxers won six straight to close out the first half of their NWC season and won the first three games of the second half of the schedule. The last time Pacific won seven or more games in a row was during the Boxers' 1996-97 NWC championship season when the team won eight straight to end the NWC season and continued the streak through the NWC Tournament and into their first game of the NAIA Division II Tournament.
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 .647 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 played five of the SCIAC's nine teams in the non-conference schedule, going 4-1 against the league (the only loss was a 72-63 overtime loss at La Verne on Nov. 15). The Division III-heavy schedule is a response 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-Ahtlete of the Week for week of Dec. 16-22 for scoring 23 points and 12 rebounds in 71-70 overtime victory over Occidental...NWC Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week and D3Hoops.com Team of the Week for week of Dec. 9-15 for scoring 47 points with two double-doubles in wins at Pomona-Pitzer and Pacifica...NWC Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Nov. 11-17 after averaging 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).
