Box Score

FOREST GROVE – George Fox seemed to make time stand still in their quest to steal a win from Pacific Tuesday night, but the Boxers held strong to seal a 73-69 victory over the Bruins in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Stoller Center.
 
Pacific had a 13-point lead with 8:43 to go in the game, but the Bruins managed to come within three points on Sean Atkins' jumper with 45 seconds left.  The Boxers' lead was 71-65 when the Bruins managed to score four points while taking only three seconds off the clock.  Atkins converted two free throws with 11 seconds left before the Boxers turned the ball right over by throwing the inbound pass out of bounds.  The Bruins then found Spencer Bolte for a long jumper to bring the game within 71-69.
 
George Fox fouled to get the ball back, and Eric Moore (Sr., Salem, Ore.) converted two free throws with seven seconds left.  The Bruins saw their final attempt fall off the mark.
 
It proved a wild ending to a game that both teams needed to stay in the NWC playoff race. With the win, the Boxers remain in sixth place in the conference at 6-6, one half game behind George Fox and Lewis & Clark (6-5).  The Boxers improved to 13-5 overall to secure their second straight winning season, while the Bruins fell to 13-7.
 
Daniel Zitani (Sr., Oakland, Calif.) turned in another huge game for the Boxers, scoring 28 points on 10 of 16 from the field and 8 of 10 from the free throw line to go along with eight rebounds and two clocks.  Moore added 10 points while Mitch Wettig (Jr., Salem, Ore.) had a game-high 11 rebounds as the Boxers out-rebounded the Bruins 41-31.  Pacific finished the night shooting 48.2 percent from the field (27-56), but just 32 percent from three-point range and 64.7 percent from the free throw line.
 
Atkins led George Fox with 18 points, shooting 7 of 15 from the field.  Bolte added 15 points and Seth Brent scored 12.  The Bruins finished shooting 41.9 percent from the field (26-62), 26.7 percent from three-point range and 60 percent from the free throw line.
 
George Fox set the pace early, playing their up-tempo style of basketball to take a 23-18 lead on Bolte's three-pointer at the 8:27 mark.  Landon Littlefield (So., Henderson, Nev.) followed with a three-pointer with 7:44 to go that started an 11-0 run over the next four minutes,  Riley Grandinetti (Jr., Murray, Utah) eventually made it a seven-point Pacific lead with his three-pointer with 2:20 left before the Bruins pulled back to within four, 34-30, at halftime.
 
Pacific pushed to put the game away early in the second half as they shot 58.3 percent from the field.  Moore's three-pointer at the 16:03 mark put the Boxers up 45-35 and Jordan Batey's (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) three with 8:43 to go gave the Boxers their biggest lead of the game, 60-47.
 
The Boxers continued to hold the 13-point edge with 4:08 left when the Bruins went on a 16-5 run to challenge late.  Jason Martin pulled George Fox to within six with his three-pointer with 2:54 left and Atkins connected with 45 seconds to go to make it a three-point deficit. 
 
Zitani appeared to have iced the game when his two free throws with 33 seconds left put the Boxers up six, but the foul and turnover with 11 seconds left allowed the Bruins to within two to set yup the game's exciting finish.
 
Pacific will head north on Friday to take on Pacific Lutheran, with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m.  A live audio webcast will be available at GoBoxers.com.  George Fox will play at Whitman on Friday.