The Pacific men's basketball team dropped a 116-107 decision to No. 5 Whitworth on Friday night at the Stoller Center.
The Boxers (8-10, 2-7 NWC) were led by Gage Shelmedine
(pictured), who had a game-high 23 points, who led five players in double figures. He was joined by
Marcus Wallace (22 points),
Davis Holly (17 points),
Andy Isokpehi (13 points) and
John Rigatti (11 points).
The Pirates (16-2, 8-1 NWC) were able to place six in double figures in the win. Jordan Lester led Whitworth with a 21-point effort. Also in double figures were fellow starters Jared Christy (14 points), Ben Bishop (12 points), Kyle Roach (11 points) as well as reserves Isaiah Hernandez (16 points) and Liam Fitzgerald (10 points).
After a tightly-contested opening first three minutes of the game, the visitors went on a 15-4 spurt to take a double-digit lead for nearly the remainder of the contest. Whitworth went into the halftime break with a 59-44 lead, shooting 65.6% (21-for-32) from the field and 88.2% (15-for-17) from the free-throw line. The Boxers shot 41% (16-for-39) from the field including a 40% (6-for-15) effort from beyond the arc.
Whitworth managed to stretch the lead to as much as a game-high 28 in the final 20 minutes. However, there was plenty of fight that remained on the Pacific side of the ledger. Trailing 93-65 with 9:42 left to play, the Boxers clawed the deficit down to 14 over the next five minutes. In the stretch, Pacific used the strength of its 3-point shooting making three 3-pointers.
Pacific closed out the game, scoring 16 of the final 19 points for the final margin. In the final 20 minutes, Pacific outscored the Pirates by a 23-6 margin in points off turnovers and shot 53.7% from the field.
Next, Pacific will face No. 3 Whitman on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Stoller Center.
Photos vs. Whitworth (Jan. 25, 2019) by Ellie Parker and
Kip Yoshimura
