THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
WHITWORTH AT PACIFICGame No. 14 • Home Game No. 7
Fri., Jan. 16, 8 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats, Audio & VideoWHITMAN AT PACIFICGame No. 15 • Home Game No. 8
Sat., Jan. 17, 6 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats, Audio & VideoBOXER BYTES• Pacific took a pair of tough losses in their second Northwest Conference. On Friday, the Boxers struggled to shoot just 28.9 percent from the field in taking a 60-36 loss to Lewis & Clark. The Boxers shot better at Puget Sound on Saturday and trailed 35-34 at halftime, but could not hold off a Loggers' second half surge in a 76-64 loss.
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Bobby Ahern had the Boxers' top performance of the weekend, scoring a career high 24 points at Puget Sound on Saturday. He finished shooting 8 of 15 from the field and 7 of 14 from three-point range to go along with two rebounds, an assist and a steal.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
WHITWORTH PIRATESLocation: Spokane, Wash.
Conference: Northwest (NCAA Division III)
2014-15 Overall Record: 11-2
2014-15 Conference Record: 4-0
Head Coach: Matt Logie
All-Time Series: Whitworth leads 49-24
Last Meeting: Whitworth won 83-58 at Spokane, Wash., On Feb. 1, 2014
Whitworth Notes• Whitworth, the defending NWC champion, are on an 11-game winning streak. Their last loss came in a 90-69 defeat to St. Thomas (Minn.) on Nov. 22. The Pirates extended their streak with two home wins last week, scoring a 65-57 victory over Whitman on Tuesday and a 79-63 win over Linfield on Friday.
• Christian Jurlina led the Pirates against Whitman on Tuesday, scoring 18 points to go along with 12 rebounds. He leads the Pirates for the season with averages of 16.5 points (second in the NWC) and 5.8 rebounds per game. Kenny Love led the Pirates in Friday's win over Linfield with 26 points. Love is shooting 48.6 percent from three-point range.
• As a team, Whitworth is averaging 75.1 points and 37.5 rebounds per game. Their .465 field goal percentage leads the NWC as does their 3.8 blocks per game, 58.5 points allowed per game and .389 opponent's field goal percentage. The Pirates are outscoring opponents by an average of 16.5 points per game.
• Matt Logie is in his fourth season as Whitworth head coach. He has led the Pirates to three NWC titles and three NCAA Division III Tournament appearances and has an 86-16 record.
WHITMAN MISSIONARIESLocation: Walla Walla, Wash.
Conference: Northwest (NCAA Division III)
2014-15 Overall Record: 9-4
2014-15 Conference Record: 3-1
Head Coach: Eric Bridgeland
All-Time Series: Pacific leads 54-43
Last Meeting: Whitman won 86-79 at Walla Walla, Wash., on Jan. 31, 2014
Whitman Notes• The Missionaries enter the week having won five of their last six games. In their first meeting of the eastern Washington rivals on Tuesday, Whitman was limited to just 30.4 percent shooting from the field and 9.5 percent from three-point range in a 65-57 loss to Whitworth. The Missionaries rebounded in grand fashion on Saturday, shooting 58.1 percent from the field and 64.3 percent from three-point range in a 109-51 rout of Linfield.
• Evan Martin led Whitman on Tuesday with 17 points while Matt Mounier came alive for 20 points in the win on Saturday. Jackson Clough is Whitman's leading scorer with an average of 14.9 points per game. Mounier is averaging 12.3 points per game and Christian McDonald is averaging 12.2 points per game. Martin is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 5.6 boards per game.
• As a team, Whitman leads the NWC and is ninth in NCAA Division III with an average of 89.5 points per game. The Missionaries are outscoring opponents by an average of 21.3 points per game and are forcing an impressive 21.3 turnovers per game.
• Eric Bridgeland is in his seventh season as Whitman head coach and his 13th season as a Northwest Conference coach. He arrived at Whitman after a stint as an assistant at Division I Pepperdine and five seasons as head coach at Puget Sound.
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTESAnother Career Effort: Given the chance to play more with
Danny Brakebush (So., Portland, Ore.) injured,
Bobby Ahern (Jr., Madras, Ore.) continues to put up career best numbers for the Boxers. The junior guard made his seventh and eighth starts of the season over the weekend. He stepped up big for the Boxers in Saturday's game at Puget Sound, leading all scorers with a career high 24 points. He connected on 8 of 15 from the field and 7 of 14 from three-point range, finishing one short of the school record of eight set by Tony Beo is 1993 and equaled by Brett Jefferies in 1995. Ahern, who saw limited action off the bench in his first two seasons, enters the week having starred eight of the 12 games he has appeared in. He is averaging 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. In addition, Ahern is ranked fourth in the NWC with a 2.3 assist/turnover ratio.
Chairman Of The Boards: While his scoring was limited in the weekend's two games,
Mitch Wettig (Sr., Bend, Ore.) did his part for the Boxers on the glass. Wettig scored just five points in each of the games against Lewis & Clark and Puget Sound, but he combined for 19 rebounds in the two contests. Wettig had nine rebounds on Friday against the Pioneers and 10 rebounds against the Loggers. Wettig enters the week as one of the conference's top scorers and rebounders. Despite his limited production over the weekend, Wettig is seventh in the NWC in scoring with an average of 12.8 points per game and is sixth with a total of 166 points. On the glass, Wettig ranks third in the NWC with an average of eight rebounds per game. He is second with 104 total rebounds, leads the league with his 68 defensive rebounds and is tied for third in the NWC with 36 offensive rebounds.
Pass And Shoot: Riley Grandinetti (Sr., Murray, Utah) continues to rank as one of the top players in NCAA Division III in terms of outside shooting and passing. The senior enters the week ranked 99th in Division III in three-point shooting, hitting 31.0 percent of his shots. In terms of passing, Grandinetti enters the week tied for second in the NWC with his 41 assists and his 2.41 assist/turnover ratio not only ranks third in the NWC, but 38th among NCAA Division III players. Grandinetti led the Boxers with three assists in Saturday's game at Puget Sound.
Add Assists: Two other Pacific players rank with Grandinetti among the top of the league in terms of assist/turnover ratio.Â
Coby Proctor (Sr., Sublimity, Ore.) enters the week tied for second in the NWC with Grandinetti with 41 assists and is seventh in the NWC and 69th among Division III players with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.05.Â
Bobby Ahern is ranked fourth in the NWC with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.3, but does not meet the minimum of three assists per game to appear in the NCAA Division III rankings.
Keeping Turnovers To A Minimum: Pacific enters the week ranked second in the NWC and 50th in Division III in turnovers per game, commiting just 11.9 per game. Pacific is ranked 79th in Division III in fewest turnovers with a total of 155. Pacific committed just seven turnovers at Puget Sound on Saturday, making the fifth time this season that the Boxers have committed 10 or fewer turnovers in a game and the third time that they have committed under 10 turnovers. The Boxers had their fewest turnovers, five, in the season opener against Schreiner on Nov. 15.
A Low Foul Count: Along with taking care of the ball, Pacific succeeds in not getting fouls called against them. The Boxers lead the NWC and are 52nd in NCAA Division III with an average of 16.1 personal fouls per game.Â
Bobby Ahern became the first Pacific player to foul out of a game this season in Saturday's contest at Puget Sound. A total of three Pacific players have fouled out over the last two seasons.
Add NCAA Statistics: Pacific enters the week ranked 36th in scoring defense (60.8 points allowed per game), 50th in tunrovers per game (11.9), 52nd in personal fouls per game (16.1), 77th in three-point field goal attempts (289), 79th in fewest turnovers (155), 88th in three-point field goals made (99) and 90th in three-point field goals per game (7.6).
Individually,
Riley Grandinetti rans 38th in assist/turnover ratio (2.41), 67th in three-point field goal attempts (86) and 99th in three-pointers made (31).Â
Coby Proctor ranks 69th in assistn/turnover ratio at 2.05 and
Marc Eppinger (Jr., Camas, Wash.) ranks 87th in free throw percentage at .850. Updated NCAA Division III stats can be found at
http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/ranksummary.
Making It To 50 Wins: With Saturday's win over Linfield, Head Coach
Tim Cleary became the seventh coach in Pacific men's basketball history to amass 50 victories. Cleary is the first Pacific coach to make it to 50 wins since current Pacific athletic director
Ken Schumann, who led the Boxers from 1992 to 2005. Cleary, who was named head coach prior to the 2010-11 season, enters the week with a 50-61 record. He is the first Pacific head coach to lead the Boxers to back-to-back winning seasons in 22 seasons (last happened in 1991-92 under Bob Bonn and 199-293 under Schumann).
Portland Metro Small College Hoops Podcast: For the third year, Pacific head coach
Tim Cleary will be one of four Portland-area small college coaches featured on a weekly podcast hosted by Greg Crawford. The Portland Metro Small College Hoops Show airs each Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. The show regularly features Cleary, Lewis & Clack coach Dinari Foreman, Concordia (Ore.) coach Brad Barbarick, Multnomah coach Curt Bickley and Clackamas CC coach Clif Wegner. To listen to the podcast, visit
http://bit.ly/1x4RjqG.
