Box Score | Bowser's Slam Dunk

FOREST GROVE – Pacific erased the memories of a rough weekend with an outstanding shooting performance Tuesday night, riding a 25-point night from Colin Wester (Sr., Sherwood, Ore.) to beat Willamette 80-60 in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Stoller Center.
 
Wester scored 18 of his total in the second half, connecting on 10 of 20 from the field to go along with four three-pointers, three rebounds, three assists and four steals.  He paced an effort that saw the Boxers shoot 64.3 percent from the field (18-28) and 83.3 percent from three-point range (5-6) in the final 20 minutes.  Pacific outscored the Bearcats 44-26 in the stanza and held Willamette scoreless for a six-minute stretch late.
 
Charles Mosley (Sr., Hillsboro, Ore.) added 15 points to go along with seven rebounds while Dustin Bowser (Sr., Bellingham, Wash.) added 13 points, including a rim-rattling dunk with 15:25 to go in the second half.  Pacific (12-9, 6-6 NWC) shot 51.7 percent from the field (30-58), including 7 of 14 from three-point range, while out-rebounding the Bearcats 34-30.
 
Elliot Babcock-Krenk led Willamette (7-14, 4-8 NWC) with 15 points on 5 of 8 from the field while Terrell Malley added 13 points.  Willamette shot 45.7 percent from the field (21-46) and 47.4 percent from three-point range (7-14), but were forced into 18 turnovers, which resulted in 20 Pacific points.
 
Pacific shook their woes from the Whitman/Whitworth trip to rest early, jumping out to a 9-2 lead on a Wester's lay-in just two-and-a-half minutes into the game.  The Bearcats came back to come within two on Trevor Bos' lay-in at the 14:02 mark.  Pacific held a 17-14 edge at the 12-minute mark when Bowser hit a short jumper that opened up a 10-2 run, which culminated on a pair of Mitch Wettig (So., Bend, Ore.) free throws with 8:36 left to give Pacific a 27-16 lead.
 
It was a nine-point Pacific lead with 3:39 left, but Babcock-Krenk most of the fuel for an 8-0 Willamette run that closed the half.  Malley closed it with his free throw with 41 seconds left to cut the Boxers' edge to 36-34 at the half.
 
Willamette closed to within one on Oliver Hughes' three-pointer top open the second half, but the Boxers responded with a 15-3 run over the next six minutes, which was punctuated by Bowser's dunk and ended on a Wester lay-in with 14:51 to go.  The Bearcats came back to cut their deficit to eight on Noah Ripley's jumper with 12:17 left, but would come no closer as the Boxers outscored their guests 23-11 the rest of the way.
 
The Bearcats hit a cold snap after Bos' lay-in at the 9:33 mark, not hitting another field goal for another six minutes.  That allowed the Boxers to build their lead to 18 points on Wester's free throw with 6:02 left on their way to the 20-point cushion.
 
Pacific's second three-game week of the NWC season continues on Friday as the Boxers travel south to take on Linfield.  Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.  A live audio webcast of the game will be available at goboxers.com.  Willamette returns home to host Pacific Lutheran on Friday.