EUGENE, Ore. – A strong second half shooting performance and a commanding nice Kellen Spicer led Northwest Christian to an 83-71 victory over Pacific in the Boxers' final non-conference of the season Tuesday night at the Morse Events Center.
Spicer finished with a game-high 31 points, connecting on 12 of 18 from the field, with four three-pointers, to go along with 14 rebounds. He led the Beacons (7-10) on a night where they shot 48.3 percent from the field (29-60) and 50 percent in the second half.
LeMar Anglin (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) came alive after a quiet first half, scoring 14 of his team-high 23 points in the final 20 minutes. Anglin connected on 7 of 9 from the field and 9 of 12 from the free throw line to go along with nine rebounds. Colin Wester (So., Sherwood, Ore.) came off the bench to score 16 points, including four treys, and Carson Bartlett (Jr., St. Helens, Ore.) added 14. The Boxers (2-9) finished the night shooting 42.4 percent from the field (25-59) and 81.3 percent from the free throw line.
Quentin Guidry added 21 points to the Beacons' effort while Brian Hampton scored 10. Northwest Christian out-rebounded the Boxers 36-32 and forced 18 Pacific turnovers.
Pacific opened the game on fire, building a 9-2 lead on five points by Bartlett and four by Anglin in the first three minutes of the contest. The Beacons roared right back with a 13-2 run over the next five minutes, culminating on Quentin Guidry's lay-in at the 12:40 mark. The Boxers took the lead back on a pair of Anglin free throws and went back up three, 18-15, on a Wester lay-in midway through the period.
Cameron Marshall tied the game on the next possession and the Beacons would not trail again in the stanza. Spicer connected on a trey with 3:55 left to put the Beacons up five. Back-to-back lay-ins by Charles Mosley (So., Hillsboro, Ore.) and Bartlett brought Pacific back within one with 1:34 left, but two Spicer free throws and a lay-in from Mitch Wilson put Northwest Christian back up five at halftime, 35-30.
The stage was set for a close second half in the opening two minutes, but a foul on a three-point shot by the Boxers and a technical assessed to Anglin provided what proved to be a critical five-point swing. The five made free throws opened up a 9-0 run for the Beacons, culminating on a Spicer lay-in four minutes in that gave Northwest Christian a 44-33 lead. The Boxers would reduce the deficit to six before the Beacons went on another 12-3 run. Brent McKee capped the run with a lay-in that gave the Beacons a 15-point lead, 56-41, with 12:30 to go.
Pacific proved to be down, but far from out. Robby Babek (Jr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) brought the Boxers within eight when his lay-in made it a 59-51 game, capping a 10-3 Pacific run, but the Beacons scored the next seven to go back up by 15 points at 66-51. Pacific returned with a run of their own, scoring the next seven points to come within eight points, 66-58, on a Bartlett three-pointer with 6:40 to go.
The Beacons quickly built the lead back up to 12 points before a three-pointer by McElwee brought the Boxers within nine, but that is as close as Pacific would get as the Beacons outscored the Boxers 11-4 over the final five minutes. Spicer added the punctuation mark when his three-pointer gave Northwest Christian their biggest lead of 16 points, 79-63, with 2:48 to go.
Pacific returns home to the Stoller Center and Northwest Conference play on Friday as they host Willamette. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.