by Jared Beilby, Student Intern

FOREST GROVE, Ore. – In a showcase of Northwest Conference scoring stars, the George Fox University Bruins rallied from 13 points down with eight minutes left to within two but fell short in the end as the Pacific University Boxers hung on for a 73-69 win in men's basketball here at the Stoller Center on Tuesday night.

Pacific senior Daniel Zitani, the Northwest Conference leader in points, entered the night with 18.8 points per game, while George Fox seniors Spencer Bolte (16.5 ppg) and Sean Atkins (16.4 ppg) were the second and third leading scorers respectively. Zitani finished with 28 points, Atkins 18 and Bolte 15. Senior Seth Brent added 12 for the Bruins.

With the loss, the Bruins (13-7, 6-5 NWC) are now tied for fourth place in the conference with Lewis & Clark College (13-7, 6-5 NWC). Pacific (13-8, 6-6 NWC) lurks a half game out of the top four and a playoff spot.

George Fox and Pacific exchanged the lead four times early, but the Bruins managed to build a 20-15 lead with 12 minutes left in the half. Pacific eventually took the lead at the 5:51 mark and closed the half with a 34-30 lead.

The Boxer lead eventually grew to 10 with 16:02 left in the game before the Bruins battled back, closing to within six with 10:52 to go. The Bruins faced their largest deficit with 8:43 remaining, down 60-47.

The Bruins weren't out yet, however, and senior Jason Martin sunk a three at the 2:35 mark, cutting the margin to 66-60. Junior A.J. Grant made the score 68-63 less than a minute later with a three of his own. Atkins then made a putback layup with 45.2 seconds remaining to edge within three. After Atkins hit a pair of free throws with 11.6 seconds left to make the score 71-67, Pacific threw the inbound pass out-of-bounds. Bolte scored on the Bruins' inbound pass from Martin with nine seconds remaining, cutting the margin to two. However, senior Eric Moore hit both of his free throws on Pacific's ensuing possession to close out the game. 

NEXT: George Fox heads to Whitman College (15-6, 10-2 NWC) in Walla Walla, Wash., for an 8 p.m. tip-off this Friday. The women's game begins at 6 p.m. … Pacific hosts Lewis & Clark at 8 p.m. on Friday. The women's contest starts at 6 p.m.