This Week
Friday, Jan. 29, Pacific Boxers (9-8/3-5 NWC) @ George Fox Bruins (5-12/2-6)
Wheeler Sports Center, Newberg, Ore., 8 p.m.
All-Time Series: The two teams are tied (43-43). Pacific has won last four games
 
Saturday, Jan. 30, Pacific Boxers @ Willamette Bearcats (11-6/3-5)
Cone Fieldhouse, Salem, Ore., 6 p.m.
All-Time Series: Willamette leads 72-35. PU won in December, Willamette won both in '15
 
Pacific begins the backstretch of its schedule this week as the second half of Northwest Conference play begins. The Boxers are 9-8 on the year and 3-5 in conference play. They have return engagements with George Fox and Willamette on the road, two clubs that they beat to open league play back in December.
 
Tale of Two Teams: The Boxers couldn't have played two more completely opposite games than they did when they hosted Lewis & Clark and Linfield this past weekend. The Boxers went three thrilling overtimes before taking out the Pioneers on Friday (80-77) and then went dead offensively on Saturday in losing to Linfield (53-42).
 
The Monkey is Dead: With the win over Lewis & Clark, the Boxers snapped a fruitless streak against the Pioneers that stretched back to the 2006-07 season. Pacific had lost 17 consecutive games against their Portland rival, and additionally with the win the Boxers snapped a current four-game losing skid. They did so in front of 1,100 wrung out fans, the largest Stoller Center crowd of the season. Freshman J.J. Spitler (Bend) came off the bench to score 13 points, including a three-pointer with six second left in regulation to send the game into its first extra period. Fellow non-starter DeVon Pouncey (Sr., Vallejo, Calif.) was also big off the bench, scoring 13 points with a pair of big free throws and a basket in traffic that helped prolong the action in two different overtime periods.
 
And Then, the Rest of the Story: Perhaps drained after 55 minutes of harrowing tension the night before, the Boxers ran out of gas on Saturday against Linfield. Pacific scored a season-low 42 points and shot just 30 percent from the field. For the first time this season, the Boxers did not have a player in double figure scoring. J.J. Spitler led the squad with eight points.
 
Fans Get Bonus Time and Wins: The crowd of 1,100 in the Stoller Center for the triple overtime win over the Pioneers was Pacific's largest crowd since February of 2013—when the Boxers also won in overtime, this time against Pacific Lutheran (68-62). Pacific is 7-3 this season in the friendly confines of the Boxer Den.
 
Chairmen of the Boards: Despite not having a player over 6'6", the Boxers have controlled the backboards so far this season. On the season they have a +10.5 advantage over their opponents, tops in the NWC. Skyler Burgess leads the team with 8.0 rebounds a contest and Michael Joseph is right behind him at 6.6. Nate Olowo adds 6.1 boards a game.
 
Stat sheet: In last week's NCAA stat list, the Boxers were second nationally in rebound margin. In the Northwest Conference, DeVon Pouncey is fourth in field goal accuracy (.584), while Skyler Burgess is fifth in that same category (.581), fourth in rebounds per game (8.0) and third in blocked shots (1.1).
 
Boxer Balance: Pacific's attack through 17 games shows a balanced stat sheet. Four players average in double figures for the Boxers, and only 2.5 points per game separate the leading scorer from the fourth. Additionally, a fifth player sits at 8.8 ppg. K.C. Harrison checks in at 12.6 points a game and a team-best 42 assists, Skyler Burgess is next at 11.5 points per game, a team-best 8.0 rebounds and 19 blocked shots. DeVon Pouncey averages 10.1, Michael Joseph adds 8.8 points, 6.6 rebounds a contest and a team-leading 22 steals. Bobby Ahern (currently injured) averages 10.2 an outing.
 
Cleary Capsule: Pacific head coach Tim Cleary is now in his sixth season in Forest Grove. Boise State's former top assistant coach is now 65-77 on the Boxer sidelines, leading Pacific to back-to-back winning seasons in 2012-13 and 2013-14—and then just missed last year when his team finished 12-13. Pacific went 15-10 three seasons ago and 16-9 in '13-14.
 
Probable Starters: Coach Clearly likely will send this group to the floor this weekend when the starters are announced.
*G—#2 K.C. Harrison (6-2, 185, Jr., Las Vegas, Nev./Grays Harbor JC)
*G—#22 Michael Joseph (6-1, 205, Jr., Anchorage, Alaska/Columbia Basin JC)
*G—#4 D.J. Christian (5-11, 185, Jr., East Atlanta, Ga./Chemeketa CC)
*F—#23 Skyler Burgess (6-5, 215, Sr., Riverton, Utah/Treasure Valley JC)
*F—#44 Nate Olowo (6-6, 210, So., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Alta Loma HS)
 
Skyler Skies to Honors: Senior forward Skyler Burgess was named the Northwest Conference Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week on Dec. 7 and was named to the D3Hoops.com Team of the Week on Dec. 8. In addition to 24 total rebounds in two wins, the 6-5 senior forward also scored 24 and 22 points respectively against Willamette and George Fox. In that process, he nailed 21 of 28 shots from the field (75 percent) and also had four assists and three blocked shots. Burgess was Pacific's second NWC honoree this season, as Michael Joseph also earned the honor on Nov. 11. The D3Hoops award is given to only five NCAA Division III players from across the country each week.
 
Pre-Season Look: Pre-season No. 3 nationally ranked Whitworth was the coach's pick to win the Northwest Conference again this season. The Pirates have won eight of the last nine league titles. The poll favored Whitworth, followed by Whitman, Lewis & Clark, Willamette, Puget Sound, Pacific, George Fox, Pacific Lutheran and Linfield. The current NWC standings can be found here.
http://www.nwcsports.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/standings
 
Bruin Bits: George Fox will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak on Friday at the Wheeler Sports Center. This latest skid came on the tail of a pair of wins to open up the 2016 calendar year, over Lewis & Clark and Pacific Lutheran. When the Bruins are "on", they can be tough to handle. They average 8.6 three-pointers a game, led by Thomas Rico (So., 6-1, Glendora, Calif.) who averages 2.5 treys a game and shoots .412 from beyond the arc. Rico is a two-time Northwest Conference Player of the Week honoree this season. He averages 13.0 points a game, just a hair behind leading scorer JJ Lacey (Jr., 6-4, Auburn, Wash.) at 13.1. Lacey is also accurate from long range at .418. Head coach Maco Hamilton enters his third year on the Bruin bench, after spending six years developing and directing the program at brand new Union High School in Camas, Wash. His career record at GFU is now 26-41.
 
Bearcat Beat: The Bearcats have won two games in a row to pull to improve to 6-11 on the season and to 3-5 in the NWC. Last week, they topped Lewis & Clark (71-66) and George Fox (84-71). Brandon Luedtke (Sr., 6-4, Meridian, Idaho) leads the Bearcats in the scoring column (12.4) and the boards (10.1). That rebound average is tops in the conference. Alex Brown (Sr., 6-5, Happy Valley) adds 10.1 points and Nico Troplent (So., 6-3, Los Angeles, Calif.) chips in 11.8. Head coach Kip Ioane is in his seventh season at Willamette and spent eight years on the bench as an assistant prior to that.
 
Looking Ahead: After this weekends' games, the Boxers will take their longest Northwest Conference road trip of the season, traveling to eastern Washington to take on the top two teams in the conference in Whitman (Feb. 5) and Whitworth (Feb. 6).
 
Watch and Listen: Pacific's NWC basketball games are streamed live at goboxers.com with Matt Richert handling the play-by-play. Additionally, tune in on Sunday evenings to listen to Coach Cleary on the Portland Metro Small College Hoops Podcast, hosted by Greg Crawford. The show begins at 9:30 p.m. and can be found at http://bit.ly/1x4RjqG.