Box Score

FOREST GROVE – Pacific leaned on a pair of solid performances on the blocks by Mitch Wettig (Sr., Bend, Ore.) and Skyler Burgess (Jr., Riverton, Utah) as the Boxers kept their Northwest Conference men's basketball playoff hopes alive with an 84-72 victory over George Fox at the Stoller Center.
 
Wettig came alive on senior night for his fifth double-double of the season, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds.  He connected on 8 of 13 from the field and 3 of 6 from three-point range.  Burgess, meanwhile, was nearly perfect as he scored 20 points on 10 of 11 from the field to go along with seven boards. 
 
Guard Bobby Ahern (Jr., Madras, Ore.) added 15 points as the Boxers finished the night shooting 46.8 percent from the field.  The Boxers outrebounded the Bruins 43-34, with 22 of those coming on the offensive glass.  Pacific also forced 21 George Fox turnovers and tallied 32 second chance points.
 
With the win, Pacific improved to 12-12 overall and moved into sole possession of sixth place in the NWC at 7-8.  With a win at Willamette on Saturday, Pacific stands a chance of securing the No. 4 spot in next week's NWC Tournament.  Pacific's chances will also be dependent of the results of games involving Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran, both of whom host Whitman and Whitworth over the weekend.
 
Johnathan Doutt led four George Fox players in double figures with 22 points.  Andrew Smith added 16 points while Brendin Quinn came off the bench for a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds.  Thomas Rico finished with 11 points as the Bruins (5-19, 3-12 NWC) shot 46 percent from the field (23-50) and 72 percent (18-25) from the free throw line.
 
Both teams started the game red hot, with the Bruins shooting 70 percent from the field and the Boxers shooting 60 percent over the first eight minutes of the contest.  George Fox took their biggest lead of the game early on, going up 6-0 on back-to-back three-pointers by Smith.  Pacific came back to take a 19-17 lead on Danny Brakebush's (So., Portland, Ore.) lay-in at the 13:04 mark.
 
Neither team led by more than three points over the next six minutes.  The game was tied at 29-29 with 7:44 to go when the Boxers went on a 15-6 run to end the period.  The run ended when Burgess hit a second-chance lay-in with 21 seconds left that allowed the Boxers a 44-35 halftime lead.
 
Pacific pushed their lead to double digits in the opening minutes of the second half, only to watch the Bruins cut to lead to seven on Smith's lay-in at the 16:59 mark.  The Bruins managed to keep the game close over the next seven minutes and came within eight, 64-56, on Doutt's three-point play with 7:30 to go.  The Boxers put the game away in the stretch, building up to a 78-62 lead on Ahern's free throws with 2:07 to go.
 
In addition to Wettig, fellow seniors Riley Grandinetti (Murray, Utah) and Coby Proctor (Sublimity, Ore.) were honored prior to the game.
 
The regular season ends on Saturday as Pacific travels south to take on Willamette with a NWC Tournament spot on the line.  Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.  A live audio webcast of the game will be available at GoBoxers.com.