THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
PACIFIC AT WHITMAN
Game No. 22 • Away Game No. 8
Fri., Feb. 13, 8 p.m., Sherwood Center, Walla Walla, Wash.
Live Stats & Video | Live Audio

PACIFIC AT WHITWORTH
Game No. 23 • Away Game No. 9
Sat., Feb. 14, 6 p.m., Whitworth Fieldhouse, Spokane, Wash.
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio

BOXER BYTES
• Pacific secured a split of their weekend games to keep themselves in the Northwest Conference playoff race.  The Boxers held off a late rally by Puget Sound on Friday to take a 71-69 win.  Pacific could not come out on top of a close game at Lewis & Clark on Saturday, falling to the Pioners 59-54.  Mitch Wettig led the Boxers in scoring in both games, finishing with 18 against Puget Sound and 20 at Lewis & Clark.

• The Boxers enter the week with a 6-6 NWC record, tied for fourth with Willamette.  Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran are one game behind the Boxers and Bearcats at 5-7.  All four teams have four games remaining in the NWC regular season schedule.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
WHITMAN MISSIONARIES
Location: Walla Walla, Wash.
Conference: Northwest (NCAA Division III)
2014-15 Overall Record: 16-5
2014-15 Conference Record: 11-2
Head Coach: Eric Bridgeland
All-Time Series: Pacific leads 55-43
Last Meeting: Pacific won 61-59 at Forest Grove on Jan. 17, 2015

Whitman Notes
• Whitman is currently on a six-game win streak and have won eight of their last nine games.  The Missionaries last loss was on Jan. 17 when they fell 61-59 to Pacific in Forest Grove.

• Whitman opened last week with an impressive 68-44 home win over defending NWC Champion Whitworth.  The Missionaries shot 52.4 percent from three-point range and limited the Pirates to just 12 of 42 from the field to earn the win.  Matt Mounier led three Whitman players in double figures with 15 points.  On Friday, the Missionaries cruised to a 79-56 road win at Linfield.  Mounier led the way again with 18 points.

• Jackson Clough leads the Missionaries in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game.  Evan Martin is the team's leading rebounder with an average of six rebounds per game and is second in the NWC with a .580 field goal percentage.

• As a team, Whitman leads the NWC by scoring an average of 84.1 points per game and is averaging 38.1 rebounds per game.  They are outscoring opponents by an average of 19.9 points per game.

• Eric Bridgeland is in his seventh season as Whitman head coach.  He came to Walla Walla in 2008 after three seasons as an assistant at Pepperdine and a long tenure as head coach at Puget Sound.

WHITWORTH PIRATES
Location: Spokane, Wash.
Conference: Northwest (NCAA Division III)
2014-15 Overall Record: 18-3
2014-15 Conference Record: 11-1
Head Coach: Matt Logie
All-Time Series: Whitworth leads 50-24
Last Meeting: Whitworth won 79-66 in Forest Grove on Jan. 16, 2015

Whitworth Notes
• Whitworth saw a 17-game win streak end on Tuesday at the hands of eastern Washington rival Whitman as the Missionaries won 68-44.  Whitman held Whitworth to 28.6 percent shooting from the field, making just 12 shots.  Kenny Love led the Pirates with 11 points.

• The Pirates rebounded on the road at Linfield on Saturday, coming back from a three-point first half deficit for a 67-50 victory.  The Pirates limited the Wildcats to just four field goals and 15 points in the second half and forced a total 18 turnovers.  Love led the way with 19 points, including 8 of 11 from the free throw line

• Christian Jurlina leads the Whitworth offense, averaging 15.1 points per game along with a team-high 5.5 rebounds per contest.  Love is averaging 12.1 points per game.

• As a team, Whitworth is averaging 74.7 points and 35.9 rebounds per game.  The Pirates are making 46.8 percent of their shots from the field, 40.4 percent from three-point range and 73.9 percent from the free throw line.  The Pirates are outscoring opponents by an average of 13.4 points per game.

• Matt Logie is in his third season as Whitworth head coach, taking over from current Eastern Washington head coach Jim Hayford for the 2011-12 season.  Prior to Whitworth, Logie spent four seasons at his alma mater, Division I Lehigh.

PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
Leading The Way: Mitch Wettig (Sr., Bend, Ore.) was a force on the blocks for the Boxers over the weekend, playing a key role in the team's offense in both games.  Wettig led the way for the Boxers with 18 points in the win over Puget Sound on Friday, making 7 of 11 from the field to go along with a game-high eight rebounds.  He also led the Boxers in the close loss at Lewis & Clark on Saturday.  In the two games, Wettig averaged 19 points and six rebounds per game.  The Boxers' leading scorer and the eighth-leading scorer in the NWC, Wettig enters the week averaging 13.2 points per game.  He is also the fourth-leading rebounder in the league, averaging 7.6 boards per contest.  The senior is also ranked in the NWC top-10 in eight other categories.  He is ranked third in defensive rebounds (111) and total rebounds (159), fourth in offensive rebounds (48), fifth in field goals made (98), seventh in total points (278), eighth in three-point percentage (.420), ninth in total minutes (278) and 10th in minutes per game (29.9).

Seeing Double Digits: Bobby Ahern (Jr., Madras, Ore.) continues to be a key part of Pacific's offensive success.  The junior scored 14 points in Friday's victory over Puget Sound, making 3 of 7 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free throw line.  Ahern joined Mitch Wettig as the only Pacific players in double figures in Saturday's loss to Lewis & Clark, scoring 10 points on 4 of 9 from the field.  Ahern enters the week averaging 8.2 points per game and is the Boxers' leading free throw shooter, making 83.3 percent of his shots.  He would rank second in the NWC, but his 25 of 30 made does not meet the conference minimum of two made free throws per game.

The Grandy Man Can: When Pacific needs a shot from outside, they are turning to Riley Grandinetti (Sr., Murray, Utah).  Grandinetti finished with 15 points, going 4 of 6 from beyond the arc, in the Boxers' win over Puget Sound on Friday.  He finished with six points at Lewis & Clark on Saturday, all from outside again.  Grandinetti enters the week leading the NWC and 65th in Division III in three-pointers made with 54.  He also ranks 66th in Division III in three-pointers attempted (140), 67th in three-point percentage (.386) and 78th in three-point field goals per game (2.57).  Grandinetti also ranks second in the NWC in assist/turnover ratio (2.4), third in total minutes (677) and fifth in minutes per game (32.2) and assists (59).

Post Presence: As the season has progressed, DeVon Pouncey (Jr., Vallejo, Calif.) has continued to key player off the bench for the Boxers.  The junior transfer came up big in Friday's win over Puget Sund, scoring a Pacific career high 13 points on 6 of 8 from the field to go along with six rebounds, a block and a steal.  He added six points on 3 of 5 from the field and five rebounds on Saturday at Lewis & Clark.  Pouncey has appeared in 21 games for the Boxers and enters the week averaging 4.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.  One of the Boxers' most accurate shooters, Pouncey is making 57.5 percent of his shots from the field.

Grandinetti Ties Three-Point Mark: Riley Grandinetti was can't miss for the Boxers in their win over George Fox on Jan. 20.  The senior scored 24 points, all on three-pointers, to tie the Pacific single game record for threes in a game.  Tony Beo set the mark in 1993, which was later tied by Brett Jefferies in 1995.  Grandinetti finished the night shooting 8 of 13, all three-point attempts.

A Low Foul Count: Pacific continues to succeed in keeping the game fairly clean.  The Boxers lead the NWC and are 61st in NCAA Division III with an average of 16.4 personal fouls per game. A total of two pacific players have fouled out this season.  A total of four Pacific players have fouled out over the last two seasons.

Firing Away From Outside: Pacific continues to fare well from outside the three-point arc.  The Boxers enter the week ranked 56th among NCAA Division III teams in three-point field goals per game with 8.2.  The Boxers also sit 69th with 476 three-pointers attempted and 55th with 160 three-pointers made.  Riley Grandinetti is individually ranked in the NCAA Division III top-100 in four different three-point categories: 65th in three-pointers made (54), 66th in three-pointers attempted (140), 67th in three-point percentage (.386) and 78th in three-pointers made per game (2.57)

Add NCAA Statistics: In other parts of the Feb. 8 NCAA Division III statistics report, Pacific was ranked 61st in personal fouls per game (16.4), 65th in scoring defense (63.6 points allowed), 66th in turnovers per game (12.2), 75th in fewest turnovers (257) and 85th in fewest fouls (344).

In addition to Riley Grandinetti's three-point prowess, Coby Proctor ranks 91st in assist/turnover ratio at 1.90.  Updated NCAA Division III stats can be found at http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/ranksummary.

Making It To 50 Wins: With the Jan. 2 win over Linfield, Head Coach Tim Cleary became the seventh coach in Pacific men's basketball history to amass 50 victories.  Cleary, who was named head coach prior to the 2010-11 season, enters the week with a 55-66 record.  He is the first Pacific head coach to lead the Boxers to back-to-back winning seasons in 22 seasons (last happened in 1991-92 under Bob Bonn and 1992-93 under Ken Schumann).

Portland Metro Small College Hoops Podcast: For the third year, Pacific head coach Tim Cleary will be one of four Portland-area small college coaches featured on a weekly podcast hosted by Greg Crawford.  The Portland Metro Small College Hoops Show airs each Sunday night at 9:30 p.m.  The show regularly features Cleary, Lewis & Clack coach Dinari Foreman, Concordia (Ore.) coach Brad Barbarick, Multnomah coach Curt Bickley and Clackamas CC coach Clif Wegner.  To listen to the podcast, visit http://bit.ly/1x4RjqG.