Box Score

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Danny Brakebush (So., Portland, Ore.) and Mitch Wettig (Sr., Bend, Ore.) paced Pacific's best offensive performance of the season Friday night as the two combined for over half of the Boxers' points in an 81-71 shucking of Evergreen State in men's basketball action at the CRC Gymnasium.
 
Brakebush led all scorers with 26 points, going 8 of 15 from the field and 4 of 6 from the three-point line.  He scored 18 of those in the first half.  After scoring just five points in the opening stanza, Wettig took over in the second half to finish with 20 points on 7 of 14 from the field.  His Game-high 15 rebounds gave him the Boxers' first double-double of the season.
 
The duo led a night that saw the Boxers (3-3) shoot 52.9 percent from the field (27-51) and 50 percent from three-point range (10-20).  It is the first outing of the season where Pacific has shot better than 39 percent from the field.
 
Pacific needed every shot as the fact-paced Geoducks (3-6) connected on 51 percent from the field (26-51).  The different came at the three-point line, where Evergreen shot just 4 for 16, and on the boards as the Boxers out-rebounded the Geoducks 37-18.  Alix Hernandez led four Evergreen State players in double figures with 21 points.  Jordan Dam added 15.
 
Riley Grandinetti (Sr., Murray, Utah) was the only other Pacific player in double figures, finishing with 16 points on 6 of 9 from the field and four three-pointers.
 
Evergreen State jumped out to the early five-point lead, but Pacific came back to take the lead for goof when Marc Eppinger (Jr., Camas, Wash.) hit two free throws at the 13:12 mark of the first half.  Grandinetti extended the advantage to five with his three-point two minutes later.  The Geoducks came back to within two points on a Hernandez free throw with nine minutes to go, but Michael Garcia's (Fr., Forest Grove, Ore.) trey on the next possession sparked a 10-2 run that ended on Brakebush's jumper with 5:58 left that gave the Boxers a 30-20 lead.
 
The Geoducks brought the lead back into single digits five times over the final four minutes of the half, only to be answered by the Boxers each time.  Brakebush's three with 3:12 left gave the Boxers a 36-24 advantage and a pair of free throws with 34 seconds to go allowed the Boxers a 41-31 halftime lead.
 
Pacific assumed its largest lead of the game early in the second half, pulling ahead 49-34 on Wettig's lay-in with three minutes gone.  The Boxers held onto the double-digit lead until two Landon Rushton free throws dug the Geoducks back to within nine, 53-45, with 11:41 left.  The Pacific lead was 11 points at the midway point when a Kortney Darby free throw started a 7-0 run that brought Evergreen within striking distance.  Hernandez converted a short-range jumper with 7:40 left to bring the home team within 58-54.
 
The Boxers held their own down the stretch, building the lead back to 10 points, 69-59, on Grandinetti's jumper with 3:10 left.  Wettig would later hit two free throws with 1:18 to go that built the advantage back to 12 points, 76-64, and effectively sealed the victory.
 
Pacific returns to action on Tuesday, traveling south to Eugene to take on New Hope Christian.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.