FOREST GROVE, Ore.- The Pacific University men's basketball team earned a 93-69 win on Saturday night over Willamette in Forest Grove. After completing a stretch of five games over the past eight days, the Boxers secured the much-needed win.
 
Pacific (6-11, 2-6 NWC) had a record-breaking performance from Lucas Winkler (Freshman/Portland, OR) who finished with 15 points, 14 assists and five steals. Winkler's 14 assists sets a new program record, surpassing the previous mark of 13 set by Lenni Kai on February 6^th, 1993. Three other Boxers joined Winkler in double-digit scoring as Jared Cattell (Senior/Bremerton, WA) led the Boxers with 17 points while Mario Mora (Senior/Bend, OR) and Jacob Bolger (Junior/Portland, OR) had 15 and 12 respectfully.
 
Willamette (5-11, 2-6 NWC) finished the game with three different players in double figures led by Jack Boydell who scored 19 points in 31 minutes of action. The Bearcats found the majority of their success in the paint with nearly half of their points (30) coming from the painted area.
 
How It Happened
The Boxers were dominate from start to finish, never surrendering the lead following Mora's quick-release three-pointer a mere 37 seconds into the contest. Trevon Ridley (Freshman/Murrieta, CA) was able to push the Boxer lead to eight following a three-point shot with 15:37 remaining in the first half. The Bearcats continued to claw back however the Boxers would be able to stretch the lead to 14 following an Antoine Stitt (Senior/San Leandro, CA) layup on a great pass from Winkler. The Boxers would take their largest lead of the first half, 16 points with 8:20 remaining before the Bearcats would battle back and only trail by three at the halftime period 45-42. The Boxers gained the halftime lead through great shooting from downtown in the first half shooting 9-19 (47.4%).
 
The Boxers came out of the halftime period strong making three shots from long range in the first 2:59 of the second half stretching the lead to 15. Two of the shots from deep came from Cattell and one came from Mora. They would continue to stretch the lead to as many as 23 following a Bolger layup with 5:01 to play. The Boxers put the game away from there taking the largest lead of the night of 27 following a Zachary Bates (Sophomore/Tucson, AZ) layup on the way to the 93-69 victory.
 
By The Numbers

• The Boxers won the rebounding battle 42-32
• Pacific was able to shoot 5-6 (83.3%) from the free throw line
• Winkler's 14 assists school record is the first single-game individual record broken in the Justin Lunt era.

 
Up Next
The Boxers will begin the second half of the conference slate next Friday, January 28^th in Tacoma with a matchup against Pacific Lutheran with a scheduled tip-off of 8 P.M.
 
For the latest information on Pacific Athletics, make sure to check out GoBoxers.com. You can also find the Boxers on social media at @GoBoxers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
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