Box Score

FOREST GROVE – Pacific's bench stepped up to keep Pacific in the game Friday night, but foul trouble and sputtering offense foiled the Boxers' chances in a 68-62 loss to Puget Sound in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Stoller Center.
 
The Boxers' reserves outscored the Loggers' reserves 30-9, led by a 15-point performance by Landon Littlefield (So., Henderson, Nev.) and 12 points from Jordan Batey (Jr., San Antonio, Texas).  The performances were not enough to carry the lead as the Boxers shot just 33.9 percent from the field (19-56) and 16 of 33 from the free throw line in the loss.
 
Pacific (10-6, 3-4 NWC) were outrebounded by the Loggers 42-30 and saw two players foul out.  It is the first time this season that Pacific has had any player foul out of a contest.
 
Budweiser Hawkins (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) scored 14 points and was the only Pacific starter to finish in double figures.
 
Nick Holden led Puget Sound (9-7, 5-2 NWC) with 18 points, going a perfect 6 of 6 from the field and 6 of 6 from the free throw line to go along with nine rebounds.  Erin Barber scored 14 points, Rex Nelson added 11 points and eight rebounds and A.J. Maw scored 11.  The Loggers shot 50 percent from the field (22-44) and were an impressive 64 percent in the first half. 
 
Puget Sound moved to make a statement early, using solid inside shooting and offensive rebounds to go up 14-6 on Holden's lay-in at the 13:47 mark of the first half.  Pacific moved back to within three on Littlefield's three-pointer at the midway point of the stanza and were still within three on Riley Grandinetti's (Jr., Murray, Utah) trey with 6:45 to go.
 
Maw's lay-in on the Loggers' next possession started a 12-5 run that closed out the half.  Holden added another bucket to put Puget Sound up 31-20 with 1:43 to go and the Loggers went into halftime with a 33-23 lead.
 
Puget Sound maintained a double-digit lead for much of the second half, but saw the Boxers make a solid effort to make it a game late.  A pair of Hawkins' free throws narrowed the deficit to 57-50 with 4:42 to go and Littlefield's jumper with 38 seconds brought the Boxers' to within six.  Batey added a three-pointer with 28 seconds left to bring Pacific within 64-60, but Barber stepped up to make 4 of 4 from the free throw line to ice the game for the Loggers.
 
Pacific closes out the first half of the NWC schedule on Saturday at Linfield.  Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.  A live audio webcast will be available at GoBoxers.com.  Puget Sound closes out their Willamette Valley trip on Saturday at George Fox.