Box Score

SALEM, Ore. – A shake-up to the starting lineup proved to be what Pacific needed to snap a two-game losing streak Friday as the Boxers returned to Northwest Conference play with a 78-66 win over Willamette in men's basketball action at the Cone Field House.
 
A week after a lackluster performance in a 30-point loss to New Hope Christian, Head Coach Tim Cleary inserted Cameron Hayes (So., Milton, Wash.) and Ernesto Mayz (Jr., Caracas, Venezuela) into the starting guard positions.  The change woke up the Boxers as four players scored in double figures, with three registering double-doubles, while the team trailed just once early in the contest.
 
Colin Wester (Jr., Sherwood, Ore.) returned to his usual form, leading all scorers with 23 points on 10 of 18 from the field to go along with seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block.  Charles Mosley (Jr., Hillsboro, Ore.) notched a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds while fellow forward Dustin Bowser (Jr., Bellingham, Wash.) finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. 
 
David Berney (Jr., Eugene, Ore.), who did not start for the first time this season, came up with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  The four led an effort that saw Pacific (8-4, 2-1 NWC) shoot 51.7 percent for the contest (31-60) and out-rebound Willamette 48-27.
 
Terrell Malley led Willamette (2-10, 0-3 NWC) with 11 points as the Bearcats dropped their third straight game and their seventh in eight tries.  Taylor Mounts came off the bench to score 10 to go along with a team-high nine boards.  Willamette managed just 36.7 percent from the field (22-60), but converted 9 of 23 three-point attempts.
 
The teams traded baskets for the first three minutes of the contest before the Boxers broke the game open with a 12-2 run.  Hayes started the streak with his short jumper at the 15:58 mark and Berney closed it out with his long range shot with 10:22 left in the half for a 25-12 Pacific lead.
 
Wester's seventh bucket of the half at the 5:35 mark opened up a 35-18 Pacific advantage, but Willamette closed out the stanza on an 11-4 run.  Two Sean Dart free throws with 1:10 to go allowed the homestanding Bearcats to go into halftime trailing 39-29.
 
Shots by Trevor Bos and Malley brought Willamette within seven to open the second half, but Berney's lay-in with 16:08 to go sparked a 9-0 run over the next three minutes.  Mosley capped the run with his jumper with 13:40 left that gave the Boxers a 51-34 lead.  Willamette rallied back, closing to within nine when Mounts' three made it a 51-42 game with 10:27 to go.
 
It was the next run that the Bearcats would not recover from as Wester finished off an 11-2 run with his jumper at the 7:55 mark that put the Boxers up 62-44 with 7:45 to go.  Joey Burns (Fr., Hermiston, Ore.) gave Pacific their biggest lead of 19 points when his bucket with four minutes made the score 70-51.  Willamette went on a 10-4 run to close the game, but the effort proved too little, too late.
 
Friday's contest closed out a four-game road trip for the Boxers.  Pacific returns home for just one of two games at the Stoller Center on Saturday as they play host to George Fox.