The Pioneers (11-5, 4-3 NWC) were outshot by the Boxers 45.5 percent to 43.9 percent, but bettered Pacific from the free throw line, 92 percent to 60 percent, and from the three-point arc, 37 percent to 33 percent.
Danny Winchester led all scorers with 19 points on a night that saw both teams shoot an even contest. John Mietus had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Ryan Wells hit for 15 on five three-pointers and Tommy Magnuson finished with 10. Joe Van Domelen (So., Hillsboro, Ore.) led the Boxers with 17 points and six rebounds. Rahim Tufts (Sr., Bellevue, Wash.) and Nick Kelsey (Sr., Wendell, Idaho) each had 11 points.
After starting the contest on an 8-2 run, Lewis & Clark held off a pair of Boxer runs that brought the game to within one. Pacific trailed 17-16 when Wells hit two consecutive three-pointers to open up a 23-16 lead. The Boxers squandered chances to get the lead back, committing nine times in the final eight minutes of the first half, and the Pioneers took a 28-20 lead into the break.
In the second Lewis & Clark did just enough to maintain their lead. Ryan Bruno hit his only three-pointer of the game to give the Pioneers their biggest lead of the fame, 49-33, with 12:28 left. Pacific whittled it down to 10 on Branden Kawazoe’s (So., Hilo, Hawaii) trey, only to see Winchester answer two possessions later to extend the advantage back to 15.
Pacific came within seven on Tufts’ lay-in with 2:42 left, but the Boxers made only one more shot and turned the ball over three more times. The Pioneers, meanwhile, made 5 of 6 free throws in the final two minutes to pad the victory.
The Boxers will try to reverse the losing trend Friday night, hosting Willamette, before traveling north on Saturday to face Pacific Lutheran.