Box Score

NEWBERG, Ore. – A career-high scoring night for Daniel Zitani (Sr., Oakland, Calif.) was not enough to carry Pacific Saturday night as the Boxers saw a five-point halftime slip away in an 80-68 loss to George Fox in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Wheeler Sports Center.
 
Zitani poured in 30 points, connecting on 10 of 19 from the field and 10 of 16 from the free throw line.  It was also his fifth double-double of the season as he added 11 rebounds, a block and a steal.  Zitani also scored 16 of the Boxers' 33 second half points.
 
The performance was not enough, however, to carry a Pacific team (9-4, 2-2 NWC) that led by as much as 12 points early in the first half and five at the break.  The Boxers finished the game shooting 45.3 percent from the field (24-53), but just 8 of 18 from three-point range and 12 of 22 from the free throw line.
 
Zitani was the only Pacific player to score in double figures.  Riley Grandinetti (Jr., Murray, Utah) added eight points while Jordan Batey (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) contributed seven.
 
Sean Atkins led four George Fox players in double figures with 19 points, with 15 of those coming in a 50-point second half for the Bruins (9-4, 2-2 NWC).  Spencer Bolte added 16 points, Jason Martin scored 13 and A.J. Grant put in 11.  The Bruins shot 49.2 percent for the contest (32-65) and 58.8 percent in the second half.
 
At the outset, it appeared as if the Boxers would blow the Bruins out of the gym.  Zitani scored six points in an initial 14-2 run to open the contest, which culminated on Mitch Wettig's (Jr., Bend, Ore.) three-pointer at the 14:05 mark.  The Bruins, however, drew back to within four when Seth Brent's lay-in midway through the stanza made it 14-10.
 
Pacific managed to keep the Bruins from taking the lead, but had them breathing at their back the rest of the period.  Bolte's three-pointer with a minute left brought George Fox within one, but Zitani hit a lay-in on the Boxers' next possession and Coby Proctor (Jr., Sublimity, Ore.) added a lay-up as time expired to give Pacific a 35-30 halftime lead.
 
The Boxers watched the lead slip away early in the second half as they hit just one field goal in the first four minutes.  Brent's jumper at the 19:12 mark gave the Bruins the 35-34 lead and Grant's three-pointer four minutes in opened up the 46-38 advantage. 
 
 
Pacific fought back to within three on Batey's free throw with 13:13 to go, but a 10-2 Bruins' run followed that opened the lead back up to 58-47.  The Boxers would come no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
 
Pacific will finish up a three-game road next Friday at Lewis & Clark before returning home to the Stoller Center on Saturday to host Pacific Lutheran.  Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. both nights.  A live audio webcast will be available on Friday and a live video webcast on Saturday, both at GoBoxers.com.