Box Score

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Mitch Wettig (Sr., Bend, Ore.) and Skyler Burgess (Jr., Riverton, Utah) each scored 10 points to lead an even shooting performance by percentage Friday night, but in the end it was about quantity as Whitman rolled to an 80-56 win over the Boxers in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Sherwood Center.
 
Burgess finished a perfect 5 for 5 from the field and Wettig finished the night going 4 for 6 with a pair of three-pointers.  Pacific (11-11, 6-7 NWC) finished the night shooting 43.8 percent from the field (21-48).  Whitman (17-5, 11-2 NWC) shot 46.3 percent from the field, but made 10 more shots as they went 31 of 67 along with a 12 of 18 performance from the free throw line.  In addition to his 10 points, Wettig pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Christian McDonald came off the bench lead the Missionaries with 14 points on 7 of 10 from the field.  Matt Mounier added 13 points and Jackson Clough added 11.  Whitman finished the night with 15 steals, forcing a total of 23 Pacific turnovers.
 
With the loss, Pacific dropped into a tie for fifth place in the NWC with Puget Sound with three games remaining.  Whitman, meanwhile, remained in the hunt for the NWC championship as they improved to 11-2 in conference, one game behind Whitworth.
 
Pacific kept things close over the first 10 minutes of the contest.  The Boxers held the 8-7 lead on Coby Proctor's (Sr., Sublimity, Ore.) lay-in at the 16:37 mark before the Missionaries came back to score the next points, going up 13-8 on Mounier's three-pointer with just over five minutes gone. Pacific drew it back to within one on Wettig's three-pointer with 13:13 to go, but Mounier's lay-in with 11:15 to go opened up a 12-2 run for Whitman, allowing them a 27-16 lead with 7:10 left.
 
Bobby Ahern (Jr., Madras, Ore.) closed the Boxers back to within six, 27-21, on his three-pointer with 6:08 left, only to watch the Missionaries quickly extend the lead to double digits and keep it there for the rest of the half.  Evan Martin's lay-in with 5:21 left made it a 31-21 game and Tim Howell's lay-in with 2:24 to go gave Whitman their largest first half lead of 14 points, 39-25.  Burgess connected on a bucket with 50 seconds left to bring the Boxers back within 41-29 at the half.
 
Pacific chipped the Whitman lead to single digits to open the second half, coming within 41-32 on Riley Grandinetti's (Sr., Murray, Utah) three-pointer less than a minute in, but that as close as the Boxers would get.  Whitman quickly built the lead to 15 points, 49-34 on McDonald's jumper with 16:01 left before the Boxers rallied to come back within 11, 49-38, on Danny Brakebush's (So., Portland, Ore.) jumper. 
 
The Boxers were within 51-40 with 11:52 left when the Missionaries blew the game open with a 9-0 run over the next two minutes, with Jackson Clough's three-pointer midway through the half making it a 60-40 game.  Pacific climbed back to within 15 on Ahern's three-pointer with 9:11 left before Whitman closed the game on a 17-6 run.
 
Pacific finishes the eastern Washington road swing at No. 21 ranked Whitworth.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.  A live audio webcast of the game can be heard at GoBoxers.com.