Box Score

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Pacific connected for one of their best overall shooting performances of the season Saturday night, but the effort was not enough to overcome strong three-point and free throw shooting by Whitman as the Missionaries rolled to a 81-66 victory in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Sherwood Center.
 
The Boxers (8-7, 2-4 NWC) finished shooting 53.8 percent from the floor (28-52) and held the Missionaries to a 48.3 percent shooting night.  Whitman (11-4, 4-2 NWC), however, got it done at the stripe and outside as they connected on eight three-pointers and completed 15 of 23 free throws.  The Missionaries' fast-paced pressure offense created 20 Pacific turnovers, which they converted into 23 points.
 
Charles Mosley (Jr., Hillsboro, Ore.) led Pacific 16 points and six rebounds, connecting on 8 of 11 from the field.  Colin Wester (Jr., Sherwood, Ore.) rebounded from a quiet first half to finished with 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
 
LuQuam Thompson led three Whitman players scoring in double figures with 15 points, nine of which came from the charity stripe.  Peter Clark and Drew Raher each scored 12.
 
Unlike their meeting in Walla Walla last year where the Boxers were out of the game within the first five minutes of the contest, the Boxers kept the fast paced Whitman dribble-drive offense in check early on.  After Whitman scored the first four points of the game, Pacific came back tie it at 4-4 on two Mosley free throws.  The Missionaries went on an 8-0 run from there, going ahead 12-4 on a Peter Clark three-pointer at the 12:51 mark.
 
Pacific cut the lead to three over the next three minutes, coming within 16-15 on Joey Burns' (Fr., Hermiston, Ore.) trey with nine minutes to go.  The Missionaries replied with an 11-2 run, building their biggest lead of the stanza at 27-15 on Clark's second three-pointer of the night. 
 
Pacific answered back with a 6-0 run, cutting the lead to six on Wester's fastbreak lay-in with 5:05 left.  Whitman would build the lead back to 10 in the waning minutes and go into halftime with a 36-28 lead.
 
Wester allowed the Boxers within six points early in the second half when his lay-in at the 14:52 mark of the second half made it 44-38.  The deficit was seven points with 11:44 left when Ryan Gilkey's lay-in on the next possession opened up a 10-2 run, and Thompson's two free throws made it a 65-48 lead with 7:39 to go.
 
Pacific would come no closer than 15 points until late in the game when Mosley connected on a lay-in to make it a 77-64 game with two minutes left.
 
Pacific wraps up a three-game road trip on Friday when they travel to Lewis & Clark.  The Boxers return home for their second and final home game of the month on Saturday, hosting Pacific Lutheran.  Tip-off is at 8 p.m. both nights and both games can be heard via live webcast at www.goboxers.com/webcasts.