Littlefield's Three-Point Play Leads Boxers Past Lutes
Box Score
TACOMA, Wash. –
Landon Littlefield (So., Henderson, Nev.) connected on a three-point play with three seconds left to give Pacific their third straight victory Friday night, a 54-51 victory over Pacific Lutheran in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at Olson Auditorium.
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The closely contested game came down to the final two minutes. Pacific trailed by two when
Eric Moore (Sr., Salem, Ore.) tied the contest at 51-51 with 2:04 left. Both teams went scoreless until Littlefield connected on the lay-up and free throw with three seconds left.Â
Mitch Wettig (Jr., Bend, Ore.) then stole the ensuing inbound pass to seal the win.
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Littlefield came off the bench to lead all scorers with 13 points, connecting on 5 of 8 from the field and 2 of 3 from three-point range. He led a night that saw the Boxers shoot 39.6 percent from the field (21-53). Wettig was the only other Pacific player in double figures, scoring 12.
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Brandon Lester led Pacific Lutheran with 11 points while Kai Hoyt scored 10. The Lutes finished the night shooting 35.8 percent from the field (19-53) and 81.8 percent from the free throw line.
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With the victory, Pacific kept pace with George Fox and Lewis & Clark in playoff race. The Boxers sit in sixth place at 7-6, one-half game behind the Lutes and Pioneers (7-5), and improved to 14-8 overall. PLU dropped to 7-16, 4-10 NWC.
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Neither team led by more than two points in the first half as the Lutes and Boxers traded the lead eight times. Pacific ensured a 22-22 halftime deadlock on
Daniel Zitani's (Sr., Oakland, Calif.) jumper with1:27 left in the period.
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The Lutes jumped out to a 29-25 lead early in the second half and built their largest lead of the game, 43-37, on Terrell Williams' free throws with 9:07 to go. The PLU lead was 45-40 with 7:08 left when Wettig and Moore hit back-to-back buckets to tie the contest at 45-45.
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PLU went back ahead with 3:18 left when Bryce Miller's lay-in made it 51-49. But the Lutes would not score again, setting the table for Moore's tying basket and Littlefield's winning three-point play.
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Pacific returns to the Stoller Center on Saturday, hosting Lewis & Clark at 8 p.m. Live audio and video webcasts will be available at GoBoxers.com.