Feb. 28
The Wildcats came close to avenging their worst defeat in coach Larry Doty's 17 seasons. The Loggers beat the 'Cats by 54 points in Tacoma, Wash., in January and that memory remained fresh for the Wildcats and their six seniors, who made the most of their final game in a Linfield uniform. But it wasn't to be as UPS canned six clutch three-pointers in the second half and overtime to stave off Linfield's upset bid.
The Wildcats ended their season at 14-11 and 9-7 in the conference. The Loggers, who will represent the NWC at the NCAA Division III tournament, finished the conference schedule at 15-1, 23-2 overall.
Playing the gambling, fast-paced style that has come to symbolize UPS basketball, the Wildcats shook off an early 10-point deficit and nearly beat the Loggers at their own game. Center Sam Kreiger (Jr., Olympia, Wash.) scored a career-high 29 points and had a game-high 13 rebounds, and John Broussard (Sr., Portland, Ore.) came up with a career-best 23 points, including four three-pointers.
Loggers guard Chase Curtiss scored 16 of his team-high 27 points in the final 25 minutes, helping UPS erase a double-digit deficit with less than 10 minutes to play. Matt Glynn had 23 points and seven assists, and McVey and Aubrey Shelton each contributed 15.
UPS was off and running to start the game, making five of its first six shots on the way to an early 12-2 lead. Linfield recovered, cutting the Logger lead in half following field goals by Blake Shelton (Jr., Arlington, Texas) and Chris Lewis (Jr., Scappoose, Ore.) with seven minutes gone. UPS jacked the lead back up to 10 but again the Wildcats responded. Shelton's layup cut the margin to seven, 35-28, with 7:28 remaining in the period. Casey Kushiyama (Sr., Honolulu, Hawaii) netted two free throws with 3:36 left that pulled the Wildcats within a field goal, 41-39. Kreiger tied the game at 41 after the Loggers threw the outlet pass out of bounds. Then, T.J. Middlesworth (Sr., Bigfork, Mont.) cashed in a breakaway dunk in the waning seconds of the half, electrifying the near-capacity crowd of 2,000. The Wildcats, who outrebounded UPS 30-18 in the first half, led 50-47 at the break. Kreiger had 15 points in the period and Shelton 13.
Linfield scored the first eight points of the second half, as the Loggers went without a field goal for more than four minutes. Linfield led 63-53 with 15 minutes left and after Broussard swished a three-pointer and followed it up with a fast-break layin with 9:40 left, the Wildcats were in front by 15. But the Loggers confidently worked their way back into the contest. Josh Walker's three-pointer from the left corner snipped the margin to six, 83-77. Twice the Loggers sliced the margin to two in the final two minutes, but clutch baskets by Blake Shelton (Jr., Arlington, Texas) and Broussard preserved the lead. Mario Mendoza sailed in for a layup and was fouled with 11.8 ticks left, but couldn't covert a three-point play that could have put the Loggers up by one.
In overtime, Mendoza gave UPS its first lead since the first half on a layup in the opening minute and McVey netted a pair of free throws for a 106-102 Loggers lead. A three-pointer by Chase Curtis put UPS in front by six, but buckets by Joe Neill (Sr., Pleasant Hill, Ore.) and Kreiger pulled Linfield back to within two. Curtiss sank two free throws with 17.8 seconds to go, giving UPS a 113-109 advantage. Pat McConn (Sr., Walla Walla, Wash.) swished a three from the coffin corner with nine seconds to go. The Wildcats got the ball back once more but couldn't get off a shot attempt.
Linfield shot .568 from the field to the Loggers' .437. The Wildcats held a decisive 54-38 advantage on the backboards. The difference came in the turnover column as the two teams combined for 39 miscues, 28 by Linfield.
Broussard, Kushiyama, McConn, Middlesworth, Neill and fellow senior Nick Fusare (Sr., Spokane, Wash.) played their final game in a Linfield uniform.
At Pacific 70, Pacific Lutheran 57
Erin Gram led the Boxers (11-14, 7-9
Nick Kelsey had five points in his senior farewell and Tim Dougherty had eight rebounds in his final game.
John Stark led a relatively flat Lutes' offensive attack with 11 points off
the bench. Jason Heutink connected for 10 as the Lutes (6-19, 3-13
After spotting the Lutes an early two-point lead, the Boxers used the final
10 minutes of the first half to open what would become an insurmountable advantage.
Burn's lay-in at the
Pacific built their lead to 20 on another Burns' lay-in just two minutes into
the second half, and hit their biggest lead of 24 on a Gram three-pointer with
At Whitman 72, George Fox 69
Ricker made all but one of his shots from the floor, hitting on nine of 10. Senior Casey Nelson reached double figures for the 18th time this year with his 11 points, hitting three of five shots and five of nine free-throws.
Five other seniors were also playing in their final game as Missionaries. Matt Airy finished with nine points, Kyle Dalvit six, Jake Pounds five, Cale Will four, and Greg Caldwell grabbed three rebounds.
Mark Gayman led all scorers in the game, with 28
points on 11 of 20 shooting. Gayman also had 13 rebounds
for a double-double. Aaron Schmick had 14 points,
and Ben
The teams traded baskets to begin the game, with five ties in the first five
minutes. Trailing 10-9, the Bruins ran off 11 straight, taking a 20-10 lead
seven minutes in. Whitman rebounded, and Ricker knocked down a jumper to make
the score 22-20 in favor of the Bruins with just over 10 minutes remaining in
the half. George Fox extended its lead to seven with
Six minutes into the second period, the Missionaries found themselves down
double-digits at 50-40. Whitman scored seven straight, though, capped by a breakaway
dunk by Nick Parker. With
In its final game of the year, the Missionaries shot 49.1 percent from the floor. Whitman was tops in the conference in shooting percentage, led by Ricker at 57.6 percent.