Do not ever count out the Pacific men's basketball team, especially senior guard Lucas Winkler.

Questionable with an ankle injury, Winkler finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and five steals in 35 minutes to lead the Boxers to a come-from-behind 89-83 win over Redlands Saturday in the final game of the Ken Schumann Classic.

"I was down in the training room today for multiple hours and they just said it was based on how I was feeling by game time," said Winkler, who was wearing a walking book earlier in the day. "I warmed up and felt ready."

Winkler said he "tweaked" his left ankle Friday night in Pacific's 91-75 win over Cal Maritime. 

"It swelled up on me," Winkler said. "Two week break afterwards, I knew I had time to recover and we needed to sweep the weekend and get these two big wins."

The Bulldogs led by as many as 23 points in the first half. Pacific senior Brenden Lapierre knocked down a 3-pointer with 4 seconds remaining in the first half to get the Boxers within 15 points, 54-39, at halftime.

Down 13 points with 6:54 remaining in the game, Pacific responded with a 14-0 run to take an 80-79 lead with 3 minutes to go. 

"We knew they played up and down but they could shoot themselves in the foot with their shot selection," Winkler said. "Watching it on film and being in the game is two completely different things. So it just takes a little bit to settle into that pace. We trusted our game plan and the game started going our way in the second half. 

"We figured out a way to break the press and take care of the ball and hit shots."

After Redlands ended the Pacific run with two free throws to retake the lead, layups by Winkler and Lucas Gray put the Boxers up three points, 84-81, with 38 seconds remaining.

Winkler then knocked down two free throws to ice the game and finish off the Bulldogs. 

"We felt like we dropped a crucial one to Trinity that we should have won," said Winkler, looking back at Pacific's overtime loss at the buzzer on Nov. 9. "Proving to everyone that we can close out big games against good opponents and keep building to where we want to go."

Pacific senior Devin Fortune posted a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds in the win. Pacific senior Jake Blazona, who had 19 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals Friday against Cal Maritime, added 10 points and five assists versus Redlands.

Next: The Boxers are off until Dec. 12 when they host Schreiner University inside the Stoller Center at 6 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 Instagram and Twitter.
 
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