Despite career-high scoring efforts from senior Nate Olowo and junior Brevin Brown, the Pacific University men's basketball team dropped a 96-93 decision to Elmhurst College on Friday afternoon.

The Boxers (8-3) led for nearly half of the contest in a game that featured 19 lead changes and was tied on eight occasions. Olowo scored a game-high 27 points and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Off the bench, Brown added 20 and senior Jay Merriweather (Buena Park, Calif.) chipped in 10. Sophomore Davis Holly scored 14, handed out a game-high seven assists and grabbed five rebounds in the loss. He is the first Boxer since Coby Proctor in 2014-15 to have three games with at least seven assists in a game.
 
As a team, Pacific tied a school record, making all 23 of its free-throw attempts. The last time Pacific was perfect from the free-throw line at home was on Dec. 3, 2016 against Pacific Lutheran, when they made all seven of their attempts.
 
The Bluejays (6-3) shot 47.9% from the field and landed all five starters in double figures in the win. Jeremy Ireland posted a double double performance, scoring 21 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
The backcourt tandem of Ryan Patton added 20 points on the strength of four 3-pointers and Jake Rhode had 18 with three 3-pointers to join Ireland in double figures. Also in double digits were Lavon Thomas, who scored 19 and Derek Dolitch, who chipped in 12 to contribute to the win.
 
In the final 90 seconds, back-to-back layups by Olowo and senior Jay Merriweather tied the game at 89 and for the eighth time with 1:05 to play. Elmhurst regained the lead for the remainder of the contest on a 3-point play by Ireland. Twice, the Boxers rallied to cut the deficit to one when Holly and Brown made a pair of free throws.

With three seconds left, the Bluejays, Jake Rhode made a pair of free throws for what proved to be the final margin but the game was not fully decided. The Boxers' R.J. Collins put up a last-second 3-pointer with less than a second that came up just short.  

Next, the Boxers will return to the rigors of Northwest Conference play where they will travel to face No. 1 Whitman (Fri., Jan. 5) and No. 7 Whitworth (Sat., Jan. 6).