Box Score

FOREST GROVE – Daniel Zitani (Sr., Oakland, Calif.) provided his fellow seniors a final home game to remember Friday night as he poured in 28 points to lead Pacific in an 81-55 rout over rival Linfield in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Stoller Center.
 
Zitani, the reigning NWC Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week, went off for 18 points in the first half alone and finished the night shooting 10 of 16 from the field, 1 of 2 from three-point range and 7 of 8 from the free throw line.  He also had 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.
 
The senior forward paced a night that saw the Boxers finish shooting 52.8 percent from the field (28-53), 42.9 percent from three-point range (12-28) and 76.5 percent from the free throw line.  Mitch Wettig (Jr., Bend, Ore.) came off the bench to add 11 points while Budweiser Hawkins (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) and Jordan Batey (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) each add nine points.
 
With the win, Pacific improved to 15-9 on the season, tying their win total from the 2012-13 season, and improved to 8-7 in conference play.  Linfield fell to 4-20, 2-13 NWC.
 
Chris Dirks and Tanner Brill led Linfield with 10 points apiece while Ryan Potter added nine.  The Wildcats finished the night shooting 40.4 percent from the field (19-47) and 26.3 percent from three-point range while hitting 80 percent from the free throw line.
 
Pacific never trailed in the contest as Zitani worked quickly to push his own scoring total into double figures.  He scored 10 of the Boxers' first 12 points before Wettig's three-pointer at the 13:41 mark made it a 15-5 lead.  Wettig's second trey two minutes later extended the lead to 13 and a lay-up by Zitani with just under 7:30 left allowed the Boxers a 26-9 lead.  Linfield closed back to within 10 points late in the period, but the Boxers kept the heat on take a 42-29 lead into halftime.
 
The Boxers opened the second half on a 15-7 run, going up 57-36 on Hawkins' free throw at the 14:01 mark.  The Wildcats would cut their deficit to under 20 just once more, on Cory Hendryx's jumper with 13:26 left.  Pacific would eventually take their largest lead of 32 points, 80-48, on Bobby Ahern's (So., Madras, Ore.) three-pointer with 3:03 left.
 
Pacific will close out the 2013-14 regular season on the road, playing at Puget Sound on Saturday.  Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.  A live audio webcast will be available on GoBoxers.com.  Linfield closes their season at home, hosting Pacific Lutheran.