Box Score Box ScoreHONOLULU, Hawaii – A 21-point performance by
Mitch Wettig (Sr., Bend, Ore.) was not enough to maintain Pacific's halftime advantage Friday as Cal Lutheran stormed back in the second half to take a 67-56 victory from the Boxers in men's basketball action at Kalani High School.
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Wettig finished one short of his first double-double of the season, adding nine rebounds. He connected on 8 of 16 from the field and 2 of 3 from three-point range, the performance from the field for Pacific player in the young season.Â
Danny Brakebush (So., Portland, Ore.) added 13 points.
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Pacific (1-3) held a narrow 28-26 lead at halftime after having led by as much as seven earlier in the period, but the Kingsmen (1-1) stormed back to outscore the Boxers 41-28 in the second. Pacific was limited to 38.8 percent from the field (19-49) for the contest while Cal Lutheran shot 49 percent for the game (29-49) and 50 percent in the second half.
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Arik Smith finished with 22 points and eight rebounds to lead Cal Lutheran. Coltrane Powdrill added 13 points.
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The Boxers never trailed in the opening half and opened up a 9-2 lead five minutes into the game on
Marc Eppinger's (Jr., camas, Wash.) three-pointer. Cal Lutheran rallied to come within 11-8 on Smith's three-pointer at 13:13 mark. The Kingsmen stayed close the rest of the half, tying the set at 22-22 on Guy Lynott's lay-in with 4:07 left before the Boxers used a Wettig free throw and a three-pointer by
Coby Proctor (Sr., Sublimity, Ore.) to build the lead back to 26-22.
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Cal Lutheran answered back with four unanswered points of their before Proctor hit a pair of free throws after Smith was assessed with a technical foul with two seconds left to take a 28-26 lead into halftime.
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Pacific built the lead again early in the second half, using three straight points by Brakebush to go up 37-33 at the 16:42 mark. Cal Lutheran responded with a 5-0 run over the next three minutes and took their first lead of the game, 38-37, on Lynott's free throws with just under 14 minutes to go.Â
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The score would be tied two more times before Dan Wade's three-pointer broke a 44-44 deadlock with 9:02 left and gave the Kingsmen the lead for good. The bucket opened up a 15-5 run over the next seven minutes, culminating on Powdrill's two free throws with 3:48 left that made it a 59-49 game. Pacific missed their final five shots in the last four minutes, allowing the Kingsmen to coast home with the win.
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Pacific will finish up their two-game Hawaii road trip on Saturday, taking on Luther College of Iowa at 3:00 p.m. (HST). The game will again be played at Kalani High School.
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