FOREST GROVE, Ore. — Just one night after one of their best and certainly most draining wins of the season, Pacific went cold on Saturday evening falling to Linfield in men's basketball action at the Stoller Center, 53-42.

The win was the third in a row for the Wildcats as they improved to 9-8 on the season and to 3-5 in Northwest Conference action. The Boxers are now identical at 9-8 and 3-5 as well.

The Boxers, who won in triple overtime on Friday night against Lewis & Clark (80-77), scored a season-low 42 points and shot just 30 percent from the field.

Linfield wasn't shooting lights out either, at least not in the first half. The two teams combined to score just eight points total in the first eight minutes of play (6-2 Linfield). The Wildcats led 10-2 at the halfway mark to intermission before Pacific heated up a little, crawling back to within three points at the break. The visitors went to their locker room with a 18-15 lead, as both teams shot under 30 percent in the first 20 minutes.

But Linfield warmed up in the second half. They began the next stanza on a 13-1 run with five different players finding the scoring column. Pacific didn't get a field goal after halftime until DeVon Pouncey's basket with 13:17 remaining (31-18 Linfield), but by then the damage had been mostly done. Linfield quickly answered with a three-pointer by Kyle Maloof to build a 16-point lead, their largest margin of the night.

The Boxers would get a close as ten points on a three-pointer by J.J. Spitler with 1:30 left, but Linfield milked the clock and made enough free throws down the stretch to keep Pacific at bay.

Maloof led the Wildcats with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Mason Rodby had ten points as well. Spitler came off the bench to pace the Boxers with eight points, while Skyler Burgess added seven points and nine boards.

Pacific will be on the road for the next two weekends, beginning next Friday (Jan. 29) with a conference counter at George Fox. Start time will be 8 p.m.