The Pioneer men's basketball team earned a 83-77 (box score) victory
over the Linfield Wildcats Saturday night at the Pamplin Sports
Center. Joey Toboni had a game-high 20 points.
Linfield held a slim lead through most of the first half. The
Pioneers had two brief leads, taking a 9-7 lead on a three pointer
by David Berggren (junior, Tualatin, Ore.) four minutes into the
game, and a 30-28 lead on a layup Thomas Tillery (senior, Portland.
Ore.) with 4:16 left in the half, but Linfield answered immediately
both times to jump back ahead. The Wildcats held a 35-32 advantage
at the half time break.
The second half was an offensive shootout with the Wildcats
hitting 60.7% of their shots in the half, only to be outdone by the
Pioneers who connected on 19 of 26 field gaol attempts in the
period (731%). The game was tied up three times in the first
five minutes of the second half. The Pioneers took a 46-43 lead on
a three pointer by Mark Robinowitz (senior, Portland, Ore.) with
13:55 remaining. After another tie, Linfield went back ahead,
49-46, on a three by Steve Taylor with 12:56 remaining. The
Wildcats kept the lead until a three by Joey Toboni (senior, San
Francisco, Calif.) tied the game 60-60 with seven minutes left in
the game. After the teams traded leads, it was another three by
Toboni to put the Pioneers up 67-66 with 4:49 remaining. The
Pioneers cemented their lead on a three pointer by Mark Robinowitz
with 3:05 remaining. Robinowitz's shot gave the Pioneers a 74-68
lead. He was fouled in the act of shooting the field goal, sending
him to the line for a freethrow. He missed the freethrow, but the
Pioneers' Thomas Tillery got an offensive rebound and a layup to
put the Pioneers up eight, 76-68. They held on for the 82-77
victory.
The Wildcats' KC Wilder scored a team-high 14 points. He also
had a team-high 7 rebounds. Brian Murphy scored 13 with five
rebounds and a pair of assists.
Joey Toboni scored 20 points with six rebounds, two assists, and
a steal to lead the Pioneers. Tyson Papenfuss (junior,
Clackamas, Ore.) scored 18 point, hitting 8 of 9 of his field goal
attempts.
With the win, the Pioneers close out the first half of the NWC
schedule with a 4-4 mark (10-6 overall). The Wildcats are 10-7 and
5-3 in the NWC.
The Pioneers are back home again Tuesday night, hosting the
Pacific Boxers. Tipoff is at 8pm at the Pamplin Sports
Center.
