Box Score Box ScoreHONOLULU, Hawaii –
Mitch Wettig (Sr., Bend, Ore.) led Pacific for the second straight night and turned in one of the team's best shooting performances of the season as the Boxers' secured a split in their Hawaii games with a 60-55 victory over Luther in men's basketball action at Kalani High School.
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Wettig led all scorers with 26 points, making 8 of 12 from the field and 5 of 7 from three-point range to go along with six rebounds. He accounted for nearly half of the Boxers' made field goals as Pacific finished the night shooting 39.6 percent from the field (19-48) and 7 of 20 from beyond the arc.
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Skyler Burgess (Jr., Riverton, Utah) added nine points to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals.
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Aaron Huber led three Luther players in double figures with 16 points. Jake Martin finished with 10 points and eight rebounds and Cody Kliethermes added 10 points. The Norse finished the night shooting 34.6 percent from the field (18-52) and 11 of 28 from three-point range.
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Pacific dominated the action for most of the game, but would have to hold off a late run by the Norse to close out the game. The Boxers (2-3) opened the game on a 12-2 run, going up 10 points on Wettig's three-pointer at the 14:05 mark of the first half. Pacific extended the lead to 11 points when Wettig hit his second three-pointer of the game and a trey by
Riley Grandinetti's (Sr., Murray, Utah) made it a 20-8 lead with 9:12 left in the period.
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The Boxers kept the heat on for the rest of the period, building a 17-point lead, 28-11, on
Bobby Ahern's (Jr., Madras, Ore.) three-pointer with 6:33 left and Burgess' lay-in with 3:59 to go gave Pacific their biggest lead of the game, 31-13. Luther closed the half with a 7-2 to come within 33-20 at halftime.
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Luther (2-3) opened the second half by cutting the Pacific lead to single digits, coming within 33-25 on Cole Austin's three-pointer at the 14:46 mark. Pacific responded with a 9-1 run, fueled by eight points by Wettig, that put the Boxers back up by 18 points, 44-26, with 12:26 to go.
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Pacific held a 55-42 lead with 3:31 left before the Norse went on 13-5 to end the game and make a run at the win. Kliethermes hit a three-pointer with 2:51 left to cut the Pacific lead to seven. Luther kept fouling to try and gain possessions, but the Boxers came through to hit five free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.
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The Boxers will take the next two weeks off from competition to concentrate on final exams. They return to the court on Dec. 12 at Evergreen State.
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