Box Score

NEWBERG, Ore. – Colin Wester (Sr., Sherwood, Ore.) and Danny Brakebush (Fr., Portland, Ore.) led a second half offensive surge Tuesday night, leading the Boxers past second place George Fox, 77-69, in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Wheeler Sports Center.
 
Wester led five Pacific players to score in double figures with 20 points, but scored 14 of those in the second half as the Boxers shot 51.9 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes and outscored the Bruins 44-37.  Brakebush, meanwhile, finished with 15 points and scored nine in the final stanza.
 
Mitch Wettig (So., Bend, Ore.) and Daniel Zitani (Jr., Oakland, Calif.) each scored 11 points while Dustin Bowser (Sr., Bellingham, Wash.) finished with his third double-double of the season at 11 points and 11 rebounds to go along with a pair of blocks.  Pacific finished the night shooting 44.4 percent from the field (28-63) and 81.3 percent from the free throw line (13-16) while outrebounding the Bruins 42-33.
 
Anthony Sanchez led George Fox with 26 points, connecting on 11 of 16 from the field and 3 of 4 from three-point range.  Seth Brent contributed 14 points and A.J. Grant scored 12.  The Bruins shot 42.2 percent from the field (27-64), but were limited to 39.5 percent in the second half.  Bench production also proved critical with the Boxers' reserves outscoring the George Fox bench 25-6.  No one on the Bruins' bench scored in the second half.
 
George Fox (9-7, 5-3 NWC) used the home court advantage to take a six-point lead early in the first half, going up 18-12 on Spencer Bolte's three-pointer at the 13-minute mark.  The Boxers would come within two points on a pair of occasions before tying the game at 25-25 on a Wettig three-pointer with 3:48 left.
 
Pacific (10-6, 4-3 NWC) followed the tie up with an 8-1 run, culminating on a Brakebush three-pointer with 1:13 left that put the Boxers up seven.  A pair of three-pointers by Grant, though, brought the Bruins back to within 33-32 at halftime.
 
The Bruins opened the second half on an 8-2 run, going ahead 40-35 on Brent's lay-in three minutes into the stanza.  Pacific pulled back to within one on Wettig's lay-in at the 14:30 mark, but Seth Atkins put the Bruins right back up five points with his bucket two possessions later.
 
Charles Mosley (Sr., Hillsboro, Ore.) tied the game at 46-46 with his lay-in with 11:45 to go.  The game was still tied at 51-51 when Zitani's jumper with 9:12 left ignited a 12-2 run that proved to be the difference.  Brakebush fueled the run with a pair of three-pointers, including his fifth of the game with 5:04 left that gave the Boxers a 63-53 lead.
 
Pacific owned a seven-point lead with 40 seconds left when the Bruins were forced to foul to gain possessions.  The Boxers made the most of the opportunities, going 6 of 6 from the stripe to keep the game out of reach.
 
Pacific will conclude the first half of the NWC season on the road, playing at Willamette on Friday.  The Boxers will then host a rematch with the Bruins on Saturday to open the second half of the conference schedule.  Both games tip-off at 8 p.m.  Both games can be heard via a live audio webcast at goboxers.com, with a video feed available for Saturday's home game.