The Pioneer men's basketball team closed out their four-game
home stand with a thrilling 85-79 (box score) victory
over the Pacific Boxers Tuesday night at the Pamplin Sports Center.
Mark Robinowitz scored 20 points to lead the Pioneers.
After three early lead changes, Pacific took a 13-10 lead on a
three-pointer by Donnie Harrison-Davis. After building the lead up
to 6, 21-15 with 11:43 remaining in the first half, the Pioneers
hit two quick buckets to narrow the lead to one, 21-20. Pacific
held onto the lead, building to a seven point advantage three
times, including going up 39-32 with 2:23 left in the half on a
three by Carson Bartlett. The Pioneers answered with back-to-back
threes by Corey Allen (junior, Portland, Ore.) and Mark Robinowitz
(senior, Portland, Ore.) to pull within one with a minute
remaining. A layup by Todd Hindermann closed out the half to give
the Boxers a 41-38 lead at the break.
The Pioneers retook the lead just under a minute into the second
half on a three-pointer by Gene Rivera (senior, Kahului, Hawaii).
After trailing by as many as five, Pacific rallied back to twice
tie the game, including knotting it at 52-52 with 15:31 remaining.
The Pioneers went on an 11-2 run to go up 63-54 on a jumper by Joey
Toboni (senior, San Francisco, Calif.) with just over 11 minutes
remaining.
It was then Pacific's turn to rally, posting a 11-2 run to tie
the game 65-65. The two teams exchanged leads, then found
themselves once again deadlocked, 71-71, with 3:37 left in the
game. With the Pioneers ahead by two, David Berggren hit a crucial
three-pointer to put the Pioneers up 77-72 with 1:15
remaining. The Pioneers made their freethrows down the stretch
including two sealing shots by Mark Robinowitz with nine seconds
remaining to give the Pioneers the 85-79 victory.
Pacific's Garold Howe, the reigning NWC player of the week,
scored 29 points for the Boxers with 9 rebounds. Donnie
Harrison-Davis scored 21 with 7 rebounds.
For the Pioneers, Mark Robinowitz had 20 points to lead the
team. David Berggren (junior, Tualatin, Ore.) hit four
three-pointers en route to scoring 16 points. Gene Rivera scored
nine points with six rebounds, six assists, and four blocks.
With the victory, the Pioneers improve to 11-6 (5-4 NWC). The
Boxers fall to 6-12 (4-5 NWC).
The Pioneers are back in action on Saturday evening, playing in
Tacoma against the Pacific Lutheran Lutes. Tipoff is at 8pm.
