Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. – In what was a nip-and-tuck battle the entire way, it was Lewis & Clark that managed to keep the ledger just on their side of positive Saturday night as the Pioneers beat Pacific 59-54 in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Pamplin Sports Center.
 
Both teams finished the night shooting 39.7 percent from the field, with each making 23 of 58 as the game finished with seven ties and 12 lead changes.  In the end, however, three-point shooting and rebounding proved the difference.  The Pioneers made 10 of 24 from three-point range, outdoing the Boxers' 3 for 15, and outrebounded the Boxers 46-31, which included 18 offensive boards.
 
Mitch Wettig (Sr., Bend, Ore.) led Pacific offensively for the second straight night, finishing with 20 points.  Bobby Ahern (Jr., Madras, Ore.) finished with 10 points while four other Pacific players each contributed six points.
 
Jason Luhnow was the only Lewis & Clark player to score in double figures, leading all scorers with 24 points.  Carl Appleton added nine points to go along with a game-high nine rebounds.
 
With the loss, Pacific (11-10, 6-6 NWC) dropped into a tie with Willamette for fourth place in the NWC with two weeks remaining.  Lewis & Clark (12-9, 7-5 NWC) picked up a critical game on both teams as they try to secure the No. 3 spot in the NWC playoffs.
 
Neither team led by more than four points in the first half, with the Boxers jumping out to the 6-2 lead on a short jumper by Coby Proctor (Sr., Sublimity, Ore.).  Lewis & Clark responded with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes, with Luhnow's three-pointer at the 12:02 mark putting the Pioneers up 10-6.  Pacific tied it at 10-10 on Ahern's jumper with 10:24 left and the game four more times the rest of the period.  Cory Coombe connected on a jumper with 33 seconds left to allow the Pioneers the narrow 32-30 halftime lead.
 
Lewis & Clark opened the second half trying to make a statement, opening up a seven-point advantage on Appleton's jumper less than two minutes in.  Pacific replied in kind, outscoring the Pioneers 13-5 over the next six minutes before DeVon Pouncey's (Jr., Vallejo, Calif.) jumper with 12:50 to go gave the Boxers a 43-42 advantage.  The Pioneers bounced right back to run their lead back to seven when Serg Ovchinnikov's three-pointer with 8:20 to go made it a 52-45 game.
 
Pacific would bring the game back within three points two more times, the last at 57-54 on Wettig's three-pointer with 2:29 to go.  The teams would combine to miss six of the game's seven final shots, with the Pioneers earning the one make from Luhnow with 37 seconds left.
 
Pacific now looks ahead to the always challenging eastern Washington trip.  The Boxers will play at Whitman on Friday and at Whitworth on Saturday.