In his final home game for the Pacific University men's basketball team, senior
Jay Merriweather (Buena Park, Calif.) scored a game-high 23 in an 86-81 victory over Pacific Lutheran University to snap a five-game losing streak for the Boxers.
Along with the 23 points by Merriweather, fellow senior
Nate Olowo (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, just shy of his ninth double-double on the season. Junior
Brevin Brown (Everett, Wash.) added 15 points for the Boxers, who improve to 12-12 overall and 6-9 in the Northwest Conference. After allowing PLU to shoot 51.6% in the first half, it was a strong defensive effort in the final 20 minutes that sparked the Boxers in the win. In the second half, Pacific held PLU to 29.4% shooting and on the flip side, Pacific shot 58.6% from the field. While clamping down on the defensive end, the Boxers had seven of its nine blocked shots. The Boxers finished the game shooting 50% (32-for-64) from the field held the Lutes to 40% (26-for-65) from the field despite hitting 10 3-pointers.
For the Lutes (4-12, 1-15 NWC), they were led by Leighton Kingma, who added 22 points along with his nine rebounds. The Lutes had a total of four players in double figures in the game.
On senior night for the Boxers, the Pacific coaching staff decided to start five of its seven graduating seniors. These players included
Chris Evans (Seaside, Calif.),
R.J. Collins (Hollister, Calif.),
Jeriko Santos (West Covina, Calif.), Merriweather, and Olowo.
After a slow start to the game for the Boxers, the Lutes would go on a 7-0 run to take a 7-1 lead. Then, Pacific would respond to tie the game at 12. PLU began to mount a lead as large as 11 in the opening half. However, Pacific had an answer and cut the deficit to seven, 43-36, at the halftime break.
Pacific started the second half on a 6-0 run and later in the half six more unanswered points put the home team ahead 48-47. A feisty Boxers squad answered with an an 8-0 run to give them a 70-66 lead.
However, the lead was not secured as the game would be tied at 73 before a couple scores by Boxers' sophomore
Davis Holly (Bend, Ore.) that included a 3-pointer, would give Pacific a 78-73 lead. Later in the half, the Lutes managed to cut the deficit to two on a 3-pointer by Markus Glenn for the Lutes would nail a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two, 80-78. However, Merriweather would rise to the occasion adding a field goal and setting up free throws by Brown to put Pacific ahead six and for the remainder of the contest.
The Boxers conclude their season on Saturday against George Fox, 6 p.m. in Newberg, Ore.
SENIOR DAY | PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL VS. PLU | FEB. 16, 2018 by
Pacific Boxers on
Exposure
