THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
LINFIELD AT PACIFIC
Game No. 18 • Home Game No. 10
Fri., Jan. 30, 8 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats, Audio & Video

PACIFIC LUTHERAN AT PACIFIC
Game No. 19 • Home Game No. 11
Sat, Jan. 31, 6 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats, Audio & Video

BOXER BYTES
• Pacific begins the second half of the Northwest Conference season needing to make up some ground to stay in contention for the playoff race.  The Boxers put together a big comeback from 13 points down at George Fox on Tuesday, shooting 61.8 percent from the floor in a 91-82 victory.  Things worked the opposite on Friday as Pacific gave up a 10-point halftime lead to Willamette in a 78-71 loss.

• Riley Grandinetti tied the Pacific single game record for three-pointers, using eight of them to score his team-high 24 points in the win at George Fox. He tied the mark set by Tony Beo is 1993 and tied by Brett Jefferies in 1995.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
LINFIELD WILDCATS
Location: McMinnville, Ore.
Conference: Northwest (NCAA Division III)
2014-15 Overall Record: 2-16
2014-15 Conference Record: 0-8
Head Coach: Shanan Rosenberg
All-Time Series: Linfield leads 72-31
Last Meeting: Pacific won 67-59 in McMinnville, Ore., on Jan. 3, 2015

Linfield Notes
• Linfield is in the midst of an eight-game losing streak and has yet to win during the conference season.  On Friday, Linfield took a 60-38 loss to Lewis & Clark.  The Wildcats shot just 29.5 percent from the field and were outrebounded 43-28. On Saturday, Linfield shot better against Willamette, hitting 42 percent of their shots, but gave up a 30-28 halftime lead in a 67-53 loss to the Bearcats.

• Ryan Potter leads the Linfield offense, averaging 10.5 points per game while shooting 38.5 percent from the field.  Potter came off the bench to score 13 points in the loss to Willamette on Saturday.  Austin Murray is the Wildcats' leading rebouner, averaging 4.2 boards per game.

• As a team, Linfield is averaging 59 points and 30.8 rebounds per game.  They are out-rebounding their opponents by a narrow 0.2 boards per game and are bring outscored by an average of 12.5 points per game.

• Shanan Rosenberg is in his second year as Linfield head coach.  He came to McMinnville after 11 seasons at Foothill College in the Bay Area.  Before Foothill, Rosenberg spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Lewis & Clark.

PACIFIC LUTHERAN LUTES
Location: Tacoma, Wash.
Conference: Northwest (NCAA Division III)
2014-15 Overall Record: 5-11
2014-15 Conference Record: 3-4
Head Coach: Steve Dickerson
All-Time Series: Pacific Lutheran leads 63-33
Last Meeting: Pacific Lutheran won 52-41 on Jan. 2, 2015

Pacific Lutheran Notes
• The Lutes enter the week coming off a pair of losses as they played at the eastern Washington schools over the weekend.  On Friday, PLU took a 79-43 loss at Whitman on Friday.  The Lutes shot just 31.9 percent from the field and were forced into 24 turnovers by Whitman's fast-paced play. On Saturday, PLU took a 78-59 loss to Whitworth.  The Lutes shot 33.9 percent from the field and turned the ball over just five times, but the Pirates blistered the nets by shooting 57 percent from the field and three-point range.

• Brandon Lester leads PLU offensively, averaging 13.2 points per game and shooting 40.3 percent from the field.  Lester led PLU in scoring in both games last weekend, scoring 14 at Whitman and 22 at Whitworth.  Austen Wilson is the Lutes' top rebounder, averaging 4.5 rebounds per game.

• As a team, PLU is averaging 58.5 points and 32 rebounds per game while shooting 39.8 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three-point range.  The Lutes are being outscored by an average of six points per game.

• Steve Dickerson is in his eighth season as Pacific Lutheran head coach. He was promoted to the head coaching position after serving three years as an assistant coach and associate head coach.

PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
Hitting Threes At A Record Clip: Riley Grandinetti (Sr., Murray, Utah) used a record three-point performance to help lead the Boxers to their 91-82 victory at George Fox on Tuesday night.  The senior scored 24 points, all of which came on eight three-pointers.  That tied the Pacific record, set initially by Tony Beo in 1993 and tied by Brett Jefferies in 1995.  He went 8 of 14 from the floor and from three-point range to go along with two rebounds, three assists and two steals.  Of the 24 points, 18 of them were scored in the Boxers' torrid second half.  Grandinetti finished the week averaging 13.5 points per game and had eight points in Friday's loss to Willamette.  Grandinetti, a starting guard in all 17 Pacific games, enters the week as the Boxers' third leading scorer with an average of 9.1 points per game.  He leads the NWC in minutes played (549), is second in both three-pointers made (41) and assist/turnover ratio (2.3), fourth in munutes per game (32.3) and fifth in assists (50).

Double Double Part 1: Skyler Burgess (Jr., Riverton, Utah) came alive to earn his first Pacific career double-double in Tuesday's win over George Fox.  The junior forward scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds against the Bruins to go along with two assists and a block.  Burgess has seen his stock continue to climb as the NWC season has progressed.  He enters the week fourth for the Boxers in scoring, averaging 8.6 points per game.  He leads the team and is second in the NWC in field goal percentage, hitting 58.8 percent of his shots.  On the glass, Burgress is averaging 5.2 rebounds per game and is eighth in the conference with 31 offensive rebounds.

Double Double Part 2: Not to be outdone, Mitch Wettig (Sr., Bend, Ore.) added his fourth double-double of the season on Friday, leading the Boxers in their loss to Willamette on Friday.  Wettig finished with 20 points, connecting on 7 of 11 from the field and 4 of 6 from three-point range, to go along with 11 rebounds.  It was the second double-double of the conference season for Wettig, the first coming against Whitworth on Jan. 16.  Wettig enters the week as the Boxers' second leading scorer and ranked ninth in the NWC in scoring, averaging 12.6 points per game.  He is the conference's fourth leading rebounder with an average of 7.9 boards per game.  Wettig leads the NWC with 90 defensive rebounds, is second with 134 total rebounds, fourth in offensive rebounds (44), fifth in field goals made (75), seventh in total points (214) and 10th in total minutes (503).

Standing Guards: Riley Grandinetti's performance on Tuesday at George Fox was buoyed by two other guards who provided critical scoring in the victory.  Coby Proctor (Sr., Sublimity, Ore.) scored a season-high 13 points, scoring on 6 of 12 from the field.  Michael Garcia (Fr., Forest Grove, Ore.) came off the bench to scre a career high 13 points, making 5 of 11 from the field and three three-pointers.  Proctor is making his presence well know in his senior season.  He enters the week ranked second in the NWC in assists with 58, sixth in total minutes with 531 and sixth with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.9.

Seeing More Time: As the conference season as progressed, DeVon Pouncey (Jr., Vallejo, Calif.) has been a more relied upon post presence off the bench.  The last two games provided the two best scoring performances of his Pacific career.  The junior transfer from Diablo Valley JC came off the bench to score nine points in Tuesday's victory over Goerge Fox.  He was one of three Pacific players to score double figures against Willamette on Friday, scoring a Pacific career-high 12 points on 5 of 8 from the field to go along with five rebounds, two assists and three steals.

A Low Foul Count: Pacific continues to succeed in keeping the game fairly clean.  The Boxers lead the NWC and are 76th in NCAA Division III with an average of 16.6 personal fouls per game.  Bobby Ahern became the first Pacific player to foul out of a game this season in the Jan. 10 contest at Puget Sound.  A total of three Pacific players have fouled out over the last two seasons.

Firing Away From Outside: Pacific fares better when they are shooting well from outside.  The Boxers enter the week among the conference's top temas in three-point shooting, ranking third with both 8.1 three-pointers made per game and 22.9 three-pointers attempted per game.  n the Jan. 25 NCAA Division III statistics report, Pacific ranked 59th in three-point field goals made (138), 62nd in three-point field goals attempted (389) and 64th in three-point field goals per game.  Individually, Riley Grandinetti ranks second in the NWC and 87th in Division III with 47 three-pointers made. He also ranks 44th in Division III with 117 three-pointers attempted.  As a team, Pacific is 4-1 this season when shooting 40 percent or better from outside.

Add NCAA Statistics: In other parts of the Jan. 25 NCAA Division III statistics report, the Boxers are ranked 76th in personal fouls per game (16.6), 82nd in scoring defense (61.8 points allowed per game), 87th in turnovers per game (12.7) and 100th in fewest fouls (283).

Individually, Marc Eppinger (Jr., Camas, Wash.) ranks 74th in free throw percentage at .850.  Riley Grandinetti ranks 44th in three-point field goals made (41) and 87th in three-point field goal attempts (117) and Coby Proctor ranks 100th in assist/turnover ratio at 1.87.  Updated NCAA Division III stats can be found at http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/ranksummary.

Making It To 50 Wins: With the Jan. 2 win over Linfield, Head Coach Tim Cleary became the seventh coach in Pacific men's basketball history to amass 50 victories.  Cleary, who was named head coach prior to the 2010-11 season, enters the week with a 52-65 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 Ken 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.