Box Score

FOREST GROVE – Colin Wester 's (Jr., Sherwood, Ore.) 22-point effort allowed Pacific to snap their eight-game losing streak Saturday night as the Boxers edged past Willamette 69-64 in a hard fought Northwest Conference men's basketball game at the Stoller Center.
 
Wester scored 15 of his points in a solid second half that saw the Boxers make 50 percent of their shots and 76 percent of their free throws.  He led three Pacific players who scored double figures in a game that saw neither team lead by more than nine points the entire night.  Charles Mosley (Jr., Hillsboro, Ore.) poured in 15 points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds, four assists and two steals while Coby Proctor (Fr., Sublimity, Ore.) finished with 13 points.
 
Pacific (9-12, 3-9 NWC) pulled away in the second half thanks to steady free throw shooting.  The Boxers finished shooting 22 of 30 on the night, with all of their makes coming in the second period.  Both teams combined to shoot 47 charity shots with 43 fouls called between the two sides.  Pacific finished shooting 42 percent from the field (21-50) and 5 of 15 from three-point range.  The Boxers also held a 39-29 advantage in rebounds.
 
Ryan Meehan led Willamette (3-18, 1-11 NWC) with 16 points, connecting on five three-pointers.  Terrell Malley added 15 points and Taylor Mounts scored 13.
 
Pacific's biggest lead of the half came early in a closely contested half.  With the scored tied 9-9, Mosley hit a short jumper to start a 6-0 run.  He then closed it with his shot at the 11:33 mark to give the Boxers a 15-9 lead.  Alex Hansen canned a three-pointer a minute later to allow Willamette an 8-0 run of their own, which closed on Meehan's free throw with 6:34 left at tied it at 17-17.
 
Willamette went on to pull out to a 24-19 lead on Mounts' lay-in with 3:04 left, but Pacific ended the stanza on a 7-0 run.  Wester hit his only three-pointer of the half with nine seconds left to give Pacific the 26-25 halftime lead.
 
Pacific bolstered their lead over the first eight minutes of the second half and built their largest lead of the game of nine points, 46-37, on a pair of Proctor free throws just under the 12-minute mark.  But the Bearcats, hungry for just their second NWC win of the season, charged right back.  Meehan's trey on Willamette' next possession, sparked a 16-1 over the next three minutes.  Malley capped the run with his three-pointer at the eight-minute mark to give the Bearcats a 53-47 lead.
 
From that point, Pacific used a balanced scoring attack to take back the lead.  Marc Eppinger's (Fr., Camas, Wash.) lay-in with 5:33 left tied the game at 54-54 and Berney's three-pointer at the 3:53 mark gave the Boxers the lead for good at 59-57.  Willamette hit just one of their final four shots over the last four minutes.  The Boxers, meanwhile, went on a 10-3 run over a three-minute stretch, culminating on Eppinger's free throw with 22 seconds left that put the Boxers up seven points.
 
Pacific continues a three-game home stand on Friday as they play host to Whitman.  Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.  The game can be followed via a live webcast at www.goboxers.com/webcasts.  Willamette will host Lewis & Clark on a rare Thursday contest.