THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
LEWIS & CLARK AT PACIFIC
Game No. 12 • Home Game No. 6
Fri., Jan. 9, 8 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats, Audio & Video

PACIFIC AT PUGET SOUND
Game No. 13 • Away Game No. 5
Sat. Jan. 10, 6 p.m., Memorial Fieldhouse, Tacoma, Wash.
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
LEWIS & CLARK PIONEERS
Location: Portland, Ore.
Conference: Northwest (NCAA Division III)
2014-15 Overall Record: 5-6
2014-15 Conference Record: 0-2
Head Coach: Dinari Foreman
All-Time Series: Lewis & Clark leads 72-35
Last Meeting: Lewis & Clark won 72-66 at Forest Grove on Feb. 15, 2014

Lewis & Clark Notes
• The Pioneers enter the week at 5-6 and 0-2 in NWC play after losing both ends of the grinding eastern Washington trip.  On Friday, Whitman's fast-paced style of play forced 30 L&C turnovers in a 77-62 victory.  Serg Ovchinnikov was the only L&C player in double figures with 21 points.  On Saturday, the Pioneers were limited to 35 percent from the field in a 62-47 loss to Whitworth.  Carl Appleton led the scoring with 20 points.

• Ovchinnikov leads the L&C offense, averaging 12.8 points per game.  Appleton leads the conference with his average of 8.5 rebounds per game and is third in the league with a .551 field goal percentage.

• As a team, Lewis & Clark is scoring 64.1 points per game and averaging 44.9 rebounds per game.  The Pioneers lead the NWC in rebounding, but is eighth in field goal percentage (.372) and ninth in theee-point percentage (.249).  The Pioneers are being outscored by an average of seven points per game.

• Dinari Foreman is in his fourth season as Lewis & Clark head coach.  A former NAIA Division II All-American for the Pioneers, Foreman spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach under Bob Gaillard before being named head coach on June 1, 2011.

PUGET SOUND LOGGERS
Location: Tacoma, Wash.
Conference: Northwest (NCAA Division III)
2014-15 Overall Record: 6-3
2014-15 Conference Record: 1-0
Head Coach: Justin Lunt
All-Time Series: Puget Sound leads 28-14
Last Meeting: Pacific won 58-54 in Tacoma, Wash., on Feb. 22, 2014

Puget Sound Notes
• Puget Sound is 6-3 overall and 1-0 in the NWC after winning their only game of the week and their first contest since Dec. 19.  The Loggers shot 51.9 percent from the field and outrebounded George Fox 39-31 in an 84-68 victory over the Bruins.  Forward Nick Holden led three Puget Sound players in double figures with 27 points.  Forward Keith Shattuck added 19 points and guard Erin Barber scored 13.

• Barber is Puget Sound's leading scorer and second in the NWC, averaging 16.7 points per game while shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from three-point range.  Holden is right behind Barber with an average of 16.1 points per game.  He is shooting 51.5 percent from the field.  Holden is also the league's second leading rebounder with an average of eight boards per game.

• As a team, Puget Sound is averaging 74.8 points and 39.2 rebounds per game.  The Loggers are second in the league in field goal percentage (.460), third in free throw percentage (.716) and third in rebounding.  The Loggers are outscoring opponents by an average of 8.5 points per game.

• Justin Lunt is in his ninth season as Puget Sound head coach.  He took over in 2006 as interim head coach after current Whitman head coach Eric Bridgeland left Tacoma for Division I Pepperine.  Lunt was named permanent head coach in April 2007.

PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
Coming Up Big: Pacific's inside-outside threat came up big for the Boxers in their 67-59 win over Linfield on Saturday.  Mitch Wettig (Sr., Bend, Ore.) finished with a career high 30 points and finished just short of a double-double with nine rebounds.  He shot 12 of 20 from the field and 4 of 6 from three-point range as he established a new scoring career high for the second time this season.  The game marked Wettig's seventh double-digit scoring game of the season and his third game of 20 or more points.  Wettig enters the week as the sixth leading scorer in the NWC with an average of 14.2 points per game. He also ranks third in the NWC in field goals made (56), fourth in total points (156), eighth in three-point percentage (.457) and is tied for ninth in three-pointers made (21).  Defensively, Wettig is third in the NWC with an average of 7.7 rebounds per game.  He ranks second in both total rebounds (85) and defensive rebounds (57) and fourth in offensive rebounds (28).

Outside Threat: Riley Grandinetti (Sr., Murray, Utah) is continuing to be a consistent scorer for the Boxers, particularly from outside the three-point arc.  The senior guard averaged 13.7 points per game in three games last week, shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from three-point range.  Grandinetti led the Boxers with a career high 20 points in Monday's loss to Portland Bible.  He went 7 of 14 from the field and 5 of 10 from three-point range.  In Saturday's victory over Linfield, Grandinetti went 4 of 8 from the field, all three-point attempts, to finish with 12 points.  Grandinetti ranks as one of the top three-point threats in the league.  He enters the week ranked second in the league in three-pointers made with 28 whiel ranking third for the Boxers with 9.6 points per game.  A key distributor, Grandinetti is tied for third in the NWC with 37 assists and is fourth with a 2.3 assist/turnover ratio.  Despite standing 5-foot-10, Grandinetti is tied for fifth in the NWC with six blocked shots.

A Burgeoning Presence On The Blocks: As the Boxers have progressed towards the conference season, Skyler Burgess (Jr., Riverton, Utah) has shown potential to be a big presence for the Boxers at the forward position.  Burgess has started eight of the nine games he has appeared in this season, including all three games last week.  He scored 12 points in Monday's loss to Portland Bible, connecting on 6 of 12 from the field.  He then went a perfect 4 for 4 from the field at Pacific Lutheran on Friday before pulling down seven rebounds in Saturday's victory over Linfield.  Burgess enters the week fourth for the Boxers in scoring with an average of 8.2 points per game.  In the process, Burgess has emerged as the second best field goal shooter in the league, making 55.6 percent of his shots.  Defensively, Burgess ranks 10th in the NWC with his average of 5.2 boards per game.  He is also 10th in the league with his 19 offensive rebounds.

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).

Bit & Pieces From Last Week's Games: Pacific saw four players finish with double-figure scoring against Portland Bible, the only time that has happened this season...With Wettig's 30 points at Linfield, he joins Danny Brakebush (So., Portland, Ore.), who had 33 points against Caltech on Nov. 23, as 30-plus point scorers for Pacific this season...Pacific is now 6-1 in games where they have the lead at halftime.  The Boxers are 1-4 when they trail.

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 12.1 per game.  Pacific is ranked 95th in Division III in fewest turnovers with a total of 133.  Pacific committed just 10 turnovers in their games against Portland Bible and Linfield, making the third and fourth times that the Boxers have committed 10 or fewer turnovers in a game.  

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 55th in NCAA Division III with an average of 16.2 personal fouls per game.  The Boxers have not seen a player foul out of a game this season and have seen players reach four fouls just seven times.

Add NCAA Statistics: As a team, Pacific also ranks in the NCAA Division III top-100 in the following statisitcal categories: 29th in scoring defense (59.5 points allowed per game), 80th in three-point field goal attempts (242) and three-point field goals made (84), 87th in three-point field goals per game (7.6) and 92nd in assist/turnover ratio (1.08).  

Individually, Riley Grandinetti ranks 42nd in assist/turnover ratio (2.31), 70th in three-pointers made (28), 82nd in three-point percentage (.394), 85th in three-point field goal attempts (71) and 93rd in three-pointers made per game (2.33).  Danny Brakebush ranks 56th in scoring with his 19.7 points per game despite having missed the last four games.  Coby Proctor (Sr., Sublimity, Ore.) ranks 52nd in assist/turnover ratio (2.17) and Marc Eppinger (Jr., Camas, Wash.) ranks 87th in free throw percentage (.850).

Homegrown: The Pacific roster this year features a welcomed rarity in the form of a homegrown player.  Michael Garcia (Fr., Forest Grove, Ore.) made the decision to play at Pacific after a standout career at Forest Grove High School.  A three-time All-Pacific Conference selection as a point guard, Garcia averaged 14.6 points and 2.2 steals per game as a senior.  In his junior campaign, Garcia averaged 18.1 points, 3.4 assists and 2.4 steals contest.  "I knew Michael was a very good player, but he has really exceeded my expectations," head coach Tim Cleary said.  "He will go through his growing pains, but he has done a really good job of jumping right in and asserting himself in the system and our program."

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.