Pacific University Athletics

Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook

2/11/2013 2:59:00 PM

QUICK LINKS: Roster | Schedule & Results | 2011-12 Statistics | NWC Standings | NWC Statistics | D3Hoops.com

THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
LEWIS & CLARK AT PACIFIC
Game No. 24/Home Game No. 11
Tues., Feb. 12, 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

PACIFIC AT PUGET SOUND
Game No. 25/Away Game No. 11
Fri., Feb. 15, 8 p.m., Memorial Field House, Tacoma, Wash.
Live Stats: bit.ly/Y4X1Bu
Live Audio Webcast: www.goboxers.com/webcasts
Live Video Webcast: client.stretchinternet.com/client/ups.portal#

PLAYOFF SPOT ON THE LINE IN FINAL WEEK OF REGULAR SEASON
After winning all three games in a tough week, the Pacific men's basketball team will be battling for a Northwest Conference Tournament spot in the final two games of the regular season.  Lewis & Clark, who is tied for fourth with the Boxers, comes to the Stoller Center on Tuesday in the final home game of the 2012-13 season.  Pacific will then close the regular season on Friday at Puget Sound.

BOXER BYTES
• Pacific snapped a three-game losing streak with a huge second half on Tuesday, outscoring Willamette 44-26 and shooting 64.3 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes in an 80-60 rout of the Bearcats.  Colin Wester led three Pacific players in double figures with 25 points.

• The Boxers were even more dominant against Linfield on Friday night, shooting 70.4 percent in the second half to overcome a one-point halftime deficit to beat the Wildcats 85-60.  Colin Wester led the Boxers with a team season-high 29 points.  Charles Mosley finished with 20 points, 19 of those in the second half.

• The Boxers used a 26-14 run over the final eight minutes of the second half to force overtime with Pacific Lutheran on Saturday and then won the game at free throw line to score the 68-62 win over the Lutes.  Colin Wester had his third 20-plus point night with 22 points.  Danny Brakebush finished with 20 points, his first double-digit scoring performance since Jan. 25.

• The three wins assured the Boxers of their first winning record since the 1999-2000 season and their first NWC record of .500 or better since the 2007-08 season.  Should Pacific advance to the NWC Tournament, it would be the Boxers' first postseason appearance since the 1999-2000 season.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
LEWIS & CLARK
The Pioneers enter the week tied with Pacific for fourth place in the NWC at 8-6 and are 14-9 overall.  L&C split their weekend games to fall into the fourth place tie with the Boxers.  On Friday, the Pioneers took a 92-85 road loss at Puget Sound.  L&C trailed 48-28 at halftime and rebounded to score 57 points in the second half, but would come no closer than five points late in the game.  Ross Erickson led L&C with 18 points while Jason Luhnow came off the bench to score 17.  The Pioneers put things on cruise control in their home finale on Saturday, rolling to a 74-57 win over Willamette.  L&C shot just 38.2 percent from rthe field, but made eight more shots than the Bearcats. Erickson led the Pioneers with 21 points with James Hollins contributing 19 points.  Hollins leads the L&C offense with an average of 15.1 points per game.  Erickson is the team's leading rebounder at 6.9 rebounds per game.  As a team, the Pioneers are averaging 73.7 points and 36.5 rebounds per game.  They are making 42.6 percent of their shots from the field and 36.6 percent from three-point range.  Dinari Foreman is in his second season as Lewis & Clark head coach.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Lewis & Clark leads 69-35    AGAINST CLEARY: Lewis & Clark leads 5-0
LAST MEETING: Lewis & Clark won 63-61 in Portland on Jan. 15, 2013

PUGET SOUND
Puget Sound enters the week tied for seventh place in the NWC at 4-10 and are 9-14 overall.  The Loggers will be looking to finish their season on a positive note after splitting their games last weekend.  On Friday, the Loggers came up big offensively in their 92-85 win over Lewis & Clark, shooting 51.7 percent from the field with 10 three-pointers and 20 of 34 from the free throw line.  Puget Sound led 48-28 at halftime and held off a 57-point second half by the Pioneers.  Derek Jobe led the Loggers with 36 points on 12 of 21 from the floor and eight three-pointers.  Scoring became sparse for the Loggers on Saturday with Linfield taking a 77-66 win.  The Loggers shot just 33.3 percent from the field and 16 of 30 from the free throw line.  The Wildcats also outrebounded the Loggers 52-36.  Erin Barber led Puget Sound off the bench with 17 points.  Holmes leads the Puget Sound offense with an average of 13 points per game while Riggs Yarbro leads the team on the boards at 5.3 rebounds per game.  As a team, Puget Sound is averaging 71.3 points and 39.3 rebounds per game.  Justin Lunt is in his seventh season as Puget Sound head coach.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Puget Sound leads 27-12    AGAINST CLEARY: Puget Sound leads 4-1
LAST MEETING: Pacific won 89-74 in Forest Grove on Jan. 19, 2013

PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
THE 20-20-20 MAN: As he winds down his Pacific career, Colin Wester (Sr., Sherwood, Ore.) saved perhaps his best string of performances for near the end.  Wester was the prime mover behind the Boxers' three wins last week, averaging 25.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in the three games while shooting 46.7 percent from the field.  He opened the week with 25 points on 10 of 20 from the field and four three-pointers in the Boxers' 20-point win over Willamette.  He then posted a Pacific season-high of 29 points on 11 of 20 from the field and eight rebounds in the Boxers' road rout at Linfield.  On Saturday, Wester finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the Boxers' 68-62 overtime win over Pacific Lutheran.  Wester also had two free throws with three seconds left in the second half that tied the game at 57-57 and sent it into overtime.  Wester comes into the final week of the season as one of the best all-around players in the league by the numbers.  He is ranked fifth in the league in scoring with an average of 16 points per game, is sixth with 119 field goals made and ninth with 63 free throws made.  In addition, Wester ranks fifth in the NWC with 38 steals and seventh with 62 assists, leading the Boxers in both categories.

PLAYING BIG: Charles Mosley (Sr., Hillsboro, Ore.) continues to play bigger than his 6-foot-3 frame, which is making a difference for the Boxers.  Mosley scored in double digits in two of the Boxers' three games last week.  On Tuesday, Mosley finished with 15 points on 5 of 10 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free throw line to go along with seven rebounds in the win over Willamette.  He then scored 19 of his 20 points in Friday's game against Linfield in the second half, keying the Boxers' 49-point second stanza on their way to a 25-point win.  On Saturday, Mosley was limited to five points thanks to foul trouble.  He finished the week averaging 13.3 points and five rebounds in the the three games, hitting 58.8 percent of his shots.  He neters the week tied for 10th in the NWC with 5.3 rebounds per game.

THROW DOWN BIG MAN: For all of the great moments in the Boxers' three wins, the highlight is certainly that of Dustin Bowser's (Sr., Bellingham, Wash.) showcase dunk against Willamette on Tuesday night.  With 15:25 left in the second half, Colin Wester got a steal and a breakaway.  Instead of going to the hoop himself, he threw the ball off the glass for Bowser to grab and slam, electrifiying the Stoller Center crowd.   The dunk can be see on the Pacific Athletics YouTube page at youtu.be/n6DkEddIPts.

As he enters the final weeks of his Pacific career, Bowser has contributed more than just highlight reel slam dunks.  He capped his three-game week with his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points to go along with 10 rebounds and two blocks in the Boxers' win over Pacific Lutheran.  He also added 13 points on 6 of 8 from the field to go along with five rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals in Tuesday's win over Willamette.  Bowser enters the week averaging 7.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, ranking him fourth in the NWC.  He leads the NWC with 56 offensive rebounds, is second with 24 blocks and third with a field goal percentage of 60 percent (75-125).

BREAKING BACK IN: After a quiet couple of weeks offensively, Danny Brakebush (Fr., Portland, Ore.) finally found his scoring touch again to play a key role in the Boxers' win over Pacific Lutheran on Tuesday.  The freshman scored 19 of his 20 points in the second half and overtime, making 6 of 11 from the field and 8 of 11 from the free throw line.  He had eight of his 20 in the final five minutes of the second half and then hit the final two free throws that sealed the game in overtime.  The performance was Brakebush's first double-digit finish since Jan. 25.  The freshman enters the week rnaked ninth in the NWC in scoring with an average of 14.2 points per game.  He also ranks sixth in free throw shooting (.809) and ninth in three-point shooting (.416).  Brakebush also ranks 10th in the NWC with 30 steals.  In the Feb. 7 NCAA Division III statistical report, Brakebush ranked 21st in three-point percentage (.441) and 47th in three-pointers per game (2.67).

WINNING SEASON SECURED: With Friday's victory over Linfield, Pacific secured the program's first winning record in 13 years.  At 14-9 overall, the Boxers have their first winning season since the 1999-2000 team went 16-9 overall.  With their 8-6 record, the Boxers will be looking for their best NWC mark and placing since the 2007-08 season, when the Boxers finished 9-7 and tied for third in the NWC. (Note: The NWC did not have a postseason tournament that year).

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS: Pacific will be playing two games this week with the chance to advance to the postseason for the first time in 13 years.  Pacific will earn their first berth in the NWC Tournament since the 1999-2000 season if they beat Lewis & Clark on Tuesday and then either Pacific beats Puget Sound on Friday or Lewis & Clark loses to Pacific Lutheran on Saturday.  If Pacific and L&C finish tied for fourth, the Pioneers own the tiebreaker for advancement based on win-loss records against second place Whitman (L&C was 1-1, Pacific 0-2).

Pacific last advanced to the NWC Tournament in the 1999-2000 season, losing 75-61 in the semifinals to Linfield.  Despite the loss, Pacific was awarded an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament where they took a 77-75 loss to Lewis & Clark in the opening round.  Pacific is 2-1 in NWC Tournament games, having won the tournament title in 1996-97.  Pacific finished fourth in 2006-07 and tied for third in 2007-08, but the conference did not have a postseason tournament in those years.

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.

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.

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.