Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
PACIFIC AT WILLAMETTE
Game No. 12/Away Game No. 7
Tues., Jan. 7, 8 p.m., Cone Field House, Salem, Ore.
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Live Audio
PACIFIC AT GEORGE FOX
Game No. 13/Away Game No. 8
Sat., Jan. 11, 8 p.m., Wheeler Sports Center, Newberg, Ore.
Live Stats |
Live Video |
Live Audio
BOXERS PREPARE FOR THEIR FIRST NWC ROAD TEST
After gaining a hard fought split with the eastern Washington schools, the Pacific men's basketball team will take to the road for three games. The Boxers head south to Willamette on Tuesday night before facing a Saturday contest at George Fox. Pacific enters the week with a 4-2 record in games away from the Stoller Center.
BOXER BYTES
• A late first half run proved the difference for defending NWC champion Whitworth on Friday, allowing the Pirates a 31-21 halftime lead en route to a 65-52 victory. The Pirates held Pacific to 27.4 percent shooting from the field, led by 13 points and 10 rebounds from
Mitch Wettig.
•
Jordan Batey made the difference for the Boxers on Saturday, leading the team with 20 points and scored the game-winning free throws with seven seconds left in an exciting 66-65 win over Whitman. Batey hit four three-pointers and went 4 of 4 from the free throw line in a game that featured 16 ties and 20 lead changes.
• Pacific continues to be one of the top defensive teams in the west. The Boxers lead the NWC by limiting teams to a .392 field goal percentage and ranks second by limiting teams to a .307 three-point percentage.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
WILLAMETTE
The Bearcats enter the week tied for eighth in the NWC at 0-2 and are 2-9 overall. Willamette saw their losing streak extend to three games with losses in both NWC games over the weekend. On Friday, the Bearcats saw a three-point first half lead slip away as Whitman scored a 65-59 victory. Willamette led by as much as 11 points early in the second half, but Whitman closed the game on a 14-8 run. Avery Manu led the Bearcats with 16 points. On Saturday, Willamette led Whitworth at halftime 31-23 before shooting just 26.9 percent in the second half to allow the Pirates the 64-53 victory. The Pirates shot 61.9 percent from the field and 12 of 15 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes. Alex Hansen was the only Willamette player to score in double figures, finishing with 10. Manu leads the Willamette offense, averaging 12.1 points per game. Brandon Luedtke is averaging 11.9 points per game and is second in the NWC in rebounding with an average of 8.1 boards per contest. As a team, Willamette is averaging 67.5 points and 30.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 44.4 percent from the field. Kip Ioane is in his fifth year as Willamette head coach.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Willamette leads 72-32Â Â Â
AGAINST CLEARY: Pacific leads 3-1
LAST MEETING: Pacific won 69-64 at Forest Grove on Feb. 4, 2013
GEORGE FOX
The surging Bruins enter the week with an 8-3 record and are one of five teams tied at 1-1 in the NWC standings. George Fox took a 72-64 loss at Pacific Lutheran on Friday in their only game last weekend. The Lutes pulled away after an evenly played first half, shooting 50 percent from the field and a perfect 12 of 12 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes. Sean Atkins led four George Fox players in double figures with 15 points. A.J. Grant and Seth Brent each scored 14 points. George Fox was one of three NWC teams to play in the D3Hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas the previous weekend. The Bruins scored a 100-81 victory over Wis.-Superior on Dec. 27 before falling 98-91 to Wis.-Platteville on Dec. 28. Atkins is the Bruin's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 17.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Spencer Bolte is averaging 16.6 points per game. As a team, George Fox is averaging 91.5 points and 36.5 rebounds per game while shooting a league-leading 47.6 percent from the field. The Bruins also lead the NWC in assists (18.1 per game) and opponent three-point percentage (.282). Maco "Shark" Hamilton is in his first year as George Fox. He replaced longtime coach Mark Sundquist after building the successful boys' program at Union High School in Camas, Wash.
ALL-TIME SERIES: George Fox leads 42-41Â Â
 AGAINST CLEARY: George Fox leads 5-1
LAST MEETING: George Fox won 85-76 at Forest Grove on Jan. 26, 2013
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
ICE WATER IN HIS VEINS: When Pacific needed it most,
Jordan Batey (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) capped a career night with two pressure free throws. Batey canned the two game-winning charity shots with seven seconds left, allowing the Boxers to pull off the 66-65 victory over Whitman. The free throws capped a Pacific career-high 20 points for Batey, which led all scorers. He connected on 6 of 11 from the field, 4 of 6 from the free throw line and a perfect 4 of 4 from the free throw line. Batey has excelled for the Boxers as the go-to sixth man at the shooting guard position. In 11 games, Batey enters the week ranked fourth for the Boxers in scoring with an average of 6.9 points per game. He also enters the week leading the NWC in free throw shooting, hitting 88.9 percent of his charity opportuntiies (24-27).
WHAT'S THE DISH: Coby Proctor (Jr., Sublimity, Ore.) proved to be the Boxers' secret weapon in their win over Whitman on Saturday. After a quiet first half, Proctor turned it on to finish with nine points, eight assists, a steal and two rebounds in the victory. Of those, he had seven points and four assists in the second half alone. Proctor has done well running the Pacific offense this season, his third as a regular starter for the team at point guard. A starter in 10 of 11 games this season, Proctor enters the week averaging 2.8 points per game. He also enters tied for 10th in assists with a total of 46, an average of 4.1 assists per game.
GAME CHANGER: While
Daniel Zitani (Sr., Oakland, Calif.) was held well below his scoring average, his presence and high-level play was a factor in the Boxers' performance this weekend. With the Whitworth and Whitman defenses keying on the NWC's leading scorer, Zitnai was held to 14 points in the two games. He came closest to his fifth double-double of the season in Saturday's win over Whitman, finishing with eight points and nine rebounds to go along with two blocks. Zitani finished with six points and seven rebounds in the loss to Whitworth and also swatted three Pirates' shots. Despite the down weekend, Zitani continues to rank as the top scorer and rebounder in the league with averages of 18.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. He also leads the NWC with 74 field goals made, 206 points, 97 total rebounds and 35 offensive boards. In addition, Zitani enters the week ranked second in free throws made (55), defensive rebounds (62) and blocked shots (17).
LENDING A HAND: The Pacific guards do well finding the open man. The Boxers as a team enter the week ranked third in the NWC in assists, averaging 14.1 per game.Â
Riley Grandinetti (Jr., Murray, Utah) enters the week tied for eighth in the NWC with 27 assists. He is also ranked third in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.9.Â
Coby Proctor is tied for 10th in assists with 26, buoyed by his eight assists on Saturday against Whitman.
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 63.2 points per game. The Boxers also leads the NWC with an opponent field goal percentage of 39.2 percent and second with a three-point field goal percentage of 30.7 percent. In the Dec. 15 NCAA Division III statistics (the last update by the association), 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 an average of just 10.6 turnovers per game. In 11 games, the Boxers have finished under 10 turnovers six 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 (as of the Dec. 15 stats report). Conversely, Pacific's opponents have averaged 18.7 fouls per game. Additionally, Pacific has yet to see a player foul out this season.
STREAKING: Pacific saw their best win streak in over a decade end with the loss to Whitworth on Jan. 3. The six-game win streak, which began with a 53-35 home win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Nov. 22 was 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 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 .638 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).
