FOREST GROVE – How do you beat the fastest-paced team in the Northwest Conference? Simple…slow it down.
Pacific forced a potent Whitman offense to play half court basketball Friday night, and that slowed the game enough for the Boxers to score a 59-55 upset of the Missionaries in men's basketball action at the Stoller Center.
Head Coach Tim Cleary kept the tempo slow from the start, having his guards hold the ball near mid-court on most possessions until little time was left on the shot clock. He also kept the starters on the floor as only seven players saw time for the Boxers. Three of the team's starters played all 40 minutes, while the other two played 37 minutes.
LeMar Anglin (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) led Pacific with 19 points and nine rebounds, connecting on 7 of 9 from the field. Carson Bartlett (Jr., St. Helens, Ore.) added 14 points and Colin Wester (So., Sherwood, Ore.) scored 13. The Boxers (4-20, 3-12 NWC) finished shooting 46.8 percent from the field (22-47), but shot 61.9 percent in the second half to secure the win.
David Michaels led Whitman with 19 points and 10 rebounds, shooting on 8 of 11 from the field and 3 of 4 from the free throw line. Josh Duckworth came off the bench to finish with 10. The Missionaries (18-7, 11-5 NWC) shot 42.6 percent for the game (20-47).
Whitman proved a formidable challenge for the Boxers. The Missionaries had beat Pacific by 29 points in Walla Walla earlier in the season and handed No. 1 ranked Whitworth their first loss on Tuesday night.
It was Whitman who took the early lead, going up six points when Ignas Pavilonis' three-pointer made it a 17-11 lead with 9:13 left in the first half. The Boxers did not fade, though, tying the game at 19-19 on a lay-in by Mosley and took a 22-19 lead on Wester's three-pointer with 5:02 remaining.
Bartlett made it a 24-19 game with two free throws with 3:29 left, but the Missionaries closed the half on a 6-2 mini-run. Michaels capped the run with his lay-in that brought the Missionaries to within 26-25 at halftime. The two teams were incredibly balanced in the first half, with both teams making nine shots and two three-pointers.
Pacific opened the second half by going back up four points on Bartlett free throw, but the Missionaries bounced back to retake the lead when Ryan Gilkey connected on a free throw to make it 32-31 at the 13:53 mark. Brandon Shaw built the lead to three with his lay-in with 12:35 to go, but Charles Mosley (So., Hillsboro, Ore.) tied it at 36-36 with a three-pointer with 11:27 to go.
The teams traded leads two more times before a three-pointer by Wester gave the Boxers the lead for good at 43-40 with 7:27 remaining. Pacific's advantage was two points with 4:55 to go when another Wester long jumper started a 10-3 run. Anglin capped the run with a lay-in with 1:09 left that put the Boxers up 55-46.
Whitman's fast paced play on their offensive end kept the Missionaries in it, and they came within four on a three-pointer by Duckworth with 44 seconds to go. In the end, it came down to free throws to ice it for the Boxers. Despite shooting just 50 percent from the line, both Anglin and Wester hit pairs of charity shots in the final 15 seconds for the win.
Pacific closes out the 2010-11 season on Saturday with another challenge as freshly crowned NWC champion and No. 1 ranked Whitworth comes to the Stoller Center. Tip off is at 8 p.m.