Eppinger Leads In His Return As Boxers Drop Season Opener

Eppinger Leads In His Return As Boxers Drop Season Opener

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By Blake Timm '98, Sports Information Director

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FOREST GROVE – Making his return after missing the 2013-14 season to injury, Marc Eppinger (Jr., Camas, Wash.) stepped up off the bench to lead the Boxers as they took a 65-58 loss to Schreiner in both team's 2014-15 men's basketball season opener at the Stoller Center.
 
Eppinger led all scorers with 17 points, including 10 of 11 from the free throw line, to go along with eight rebounds.  He was a bright spot on an evening where the Boxers (0-1) struggled to find their scoring touch, shooting 34 percent from the field for the night.  Skyler Burgess (Jr., Riverton, Utah), making his first official start in a Pacific uniform, finished with 14 points on 6 of 9 from the field to go along with eight rebounds.
 
Wes Miller led Schreiner (1-0) with 16 points as the Mountaineers gave head coach Connor Kuykendall his first victory.  Miller shot 6 of 12 from the field and 2 of 2 from three-point range.  Christian Pena came off the bench to score 10 points, going 3 of 3 from the field and 2 of 2 from the arc.  The Mountaineers shot 44 percent from the field and killed the Boxers with timely three-point buckets, making 11 of 21 on the night.
 
While Schreiner controlled the tempo throughout the first half, they never could shake the Boxers.  Philip Key put the Mountaineers ahead 7-3 early with his jumper three minutes in, but the Boxers came back to tie the game at 9-9 on a pair of Riley Grandinetti (Sr., Murray, Utah) free throws and went ahead 12-9 on Coby Proctor's (Sr., Sublimity, Ore.) three-pointer with 13:45 to go.  Schreiner responded with a 7-0 run, which culminated on Maverick Harris' three-pointer at the 11:20 mark.
 
Pacific drew back within two points with 7:57 to go before Miller made it a six-point game when his three-pointer made it 22-16.  Pacific rallied to tie it at 26-26 on DeVon Pouncey's (Jr., Vallejo, Calif.) lay-in, but Schreiner closed the half outscoring the Boxers 7-3 and took a 33-29 lead into halftime.
 
It was Pacific turn to manage the pace in the second half, taking a 37-34 lead on Burgess' lay-in four minutes into the period.  The teams played a close game over the next six minutes.  Pacific was down one 49-48, with 7:54 left, when Schreiner closed the game on 16-10 run.  Miller, Stevan Guerrero and Hollis Robinson each had three-pointers down the stretch before Ryan Evans gave the Mountaineers the only double-digit lead of the game, 65-55, on his lay-in with 43 seconds left.
 
Schreiner out-rebounded Pacific 41-31, with Robinson leading the way with nine boards.  Pacific was forced into just five turnovers on the night.
 
Pacific returns to action next weekend, continuing a three-game home stand against a pair of SCIAC teams.  The Boxers host La Verne on Saturday at 6 p.m., before hosting Caltech at 1 p.m. on Sunday.  A video webcast of both games will be available at GoBoxers.com.  Schreiner finished a two-game Northwest road trip on Sunday at Willamette.
 
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