Whitman's First Half Offensive Explosion Sinks Boxers
Box Score
WALLA WALLA – A 54-point first half paced another can't miss shooting night for Whitman's fast paced offense Friday as the Missionaries rolled to a 101-68 victory over Pacific in Northwest Conference basketball action at the Sherwood Center.
Whitman (13-7, 7-4 NWC) blew open an otherwise close game midway through the first half. Ben Eisenhardt's lay-in with 10:49 left opened a streak of four made baskets and ignited a 38-10 run over the final 11 minutes of the stanza. Pacific made just three field goals during the stretch as the Missionaries shot 61.3 percent from the field (19-31) and 8 of 11 from three-point range in the first half.
Pacific (11-8, 5-5 NWC) shot a respectable 46 percent from the field for the game (23-50), but the 10-minute surge proved to be too much for the Boxers to come back from.
Charles Mosley (Sr., Hillsboro, Ore.) led the Boxers offensively with 12 points, making 5 of 8 from the field and 2 of 2 from the free throw line.
Marc Eppinger (So., Camas, Wash.) added 11 points late off the bench. Pacific outrebounded Whitman 37-33, led by five each from Mosley and
Dustin Bowser (Sr., Bellingham, Wash.), but were coaxed into 25 turnovers, which resulted in 37 Missionaries' points.
Matt Mounier led five Whitman players to score in double figures with 17 points. Ignas Pavilonis added 12 points while Eisenhardt, Dominic Lippi and Keenan Durham had 10 points apiece.
The contest was a close, competitive affair through the first 10 minutes of the opening half. Pacific held the lead on three occasions and were up four points, 14-10, on
Daniel Zitani's (Jr., Oakland, Calif.) lay-in at the 12:19 mark. Back-to-back three-pointers by Pavilonis and Duckworth on the next two possessions gave the two-point lead back to Whitman, but
Danny Brakebush (Fr., Portland, Ore.) put the Boxers up 17-16 with 11:06 left on the clock.
Eisenhardt's lay-in on Whitman's next possession would be the start of the game-deciding run as Pacific would not hit another shot from the field for the six nine minutes. Whitman's advantage became 30-18 on Mounier's three-pointer with 8:06 left and then 20 points when Pavilonis' trey with 6:04 left made it a 38-18 advantage. Mosley finally brought the Pacific cold snap to an end with his lay-in with 5:45 left, but the Missionaries extended the lead to 26 on a pair of Duckworth free throws with 1:21 to go and took a 54-27 lead into halftime.
Whitman opened the second half by taking their largest lead of 30 points, 57-27, on a Lippi three-pointer that started the period. The Missionaries' shooting cooled from there, allowing the Boxers to cut the deficit to 23 points, 65-42, on
Joey Burns' (So., Hermiston, Ore.) jumper at the 12:52 mark.
That would be the closest Pacific would get as Duckworth's three-pointer with 9:15 left made it a 33-point game and Durham's lay-in with 7:04 to go gave the Missionaries their largest lead of 36 points.
Pacific concludes the eastern Washington road swing on Saturday as they take on No. 4 ranked Whitworth in Spokane. Tip-off is scheduled for a 8 p.m. A live audio webcast of the game will be available at goboxers.com.
