Box Score

FOREST GROVE – Pacific posted one of their top three-point shooting performances of the season Tuesday night, canning 11 shots from outside as the Boxers broke a two-game losing streak with a 77-71 win over Willamette in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Stoller Center.
 
The Boxers shot 45.8 percent (11-24) from the three-point line, tying the team's second best shooting performance from outside all season.  The team's outside prowess helped bolster a night that saw Pacific shoot 46.2 percent from the field (24-52) and 50 percent in the opening half.
 
Pacific's leading scorer, however, did it all from inside the line as Daniel Zitani (Sr., Oakland, Calif.) finished with his sixth double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds.  He also had an assist, two blocks and two steals.  Riley Grandinetti (Jr., Murray, Utah) came off the bench to score 16 points on 6 of 9 from the field and four three-pointers.
 
Jordan Batey (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) finished with 13 points, including three three-pointers, while Mitch Wettig (Jr., Bend, Ore.) added 10 points.
 
Brandon Luedtke paced Willamette with 25 points, hitting on 10 of 13 from the field and 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.  Manu Avery added 14 points, Alex Hansen scored 11 and Alex Brown connected for 10.  Willamette finished the night shooting 51.8 percent from the field (29-56), but just 4 of 15 from three-point range and 9 of 18 from the free throw line.
 
With the win, Pacific improved to 12-8, 5-6 NWC, while Willamette fell to 3-17, 1-10 NWC.
 
It was Willamette, however, who opened the night with the hot hand as they shot a blistering 63 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.  The Bearcats pulled away from a 14-14 tie with a 12-5 run, going ahead 26-19 on Brown's three-pointer at the 9:38 mark.  Pacific responded with a 7-0 run of their own, tying the set at 28-28 on Wettig's baseline dunk with 6:27 left.
 
The game was tied again at 33-33 with Coby Proctor (Jr., Sublimity, Ore.) and Batey connected on back-to-back three-pointers to go back up six, but Hansen and Manu replied with back-to-back lay-ins that brought the Bearcats within two at halftime, 39-37.
 
Pacific opened the second half on a 10-0 run that proved to provide the cushion that Pacific would need to win, going ahead 49-37 on Zitani's short-range jumper with 15:53 to go.  Willamette narrowed the lead to seven points on Manu's lay-in at the 11:45 mark, but the Boxers built the lead right back yup to 12 on a pair of Zitani free throws with 8:06 left.
 
Willamette would challenge late, coming within four points, 66-62, on Hansen's three-pointer with 3:21 to go.  Grandinetti snuffed any possible Willamette run with this three-pointer on the Boxers' next possession as the Boxers went 6 for 10 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to secure the win.
 
Pacific will close a short two-game home stand on Friday, hosting George Fox with an 8 p.m. tipoff.  Live audio and video webcasts will be available at GoBoxers.com.  Willamette returns to play at Linfield on Saturday.