PORTLAND, Ore. – The Lewis & Clark Pioneers hosted the Pacific Boxers Saturday night at Pamplin Sports Center, winning 87-76 in overtime. The Pioneers celebrated three graduating seniors for their final home game of the 2022 season. Players Ryan Cibull and Michael Wudel, as well as student-coach Nate Peterson were honored. 

The Pioneers played a tight and physical game with the Boxers, pulling away in overtime for their fourth consecutive conference win. Three Pioneers hit double-digits in scoring with Jack Henderson putting 23 on the board, Brenden Patrick scoring 20, and Cibull putting up 19 points. Ryan Trunkett and Sebastian DePrez combined for 16 rebounds.

The Boxers were led by Trevon Ridley and Jacob Bolger who combined for 41. 

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Key Moments

The Boxers established an early lead through a fast-paced and aggressive play style and the Pioneers spent the first half closing the gap. Down by six points with 11:57 to play, a layup from Sam Henderson and Tyler McFarland's first three-pointer of the game shrunk the Boxers' lead to just one point.

Coming out of a timeout with 2:33 left in the half, Ryan Trunkett hit two key free throws that were followed by a long-range three-pointer by Cibull to tie the game 35-35 with 1:05 left in the half. Right before halftime, Ridley made a free throw to put the Boxers up 36-35 at the half.

A free throw from Wudel early in the second tied the game, but the Boxers pulled away off a turnover by Patrick. Wudel hit a three-pointer to bring the Pioneers back within one point of Pacific with 16:45 on the clock. A big block from J. Henderson on the Boxers' possession kept them from responding. Down by one, Patrick, who hadn't scored yet in the second half, skunk to the basket for a layup to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game with 15:42 left in regulation.

Baskets from Trunkett and Cibull put the Pioneers up 53-49 with 11:39 left in regulation but Lucas Winkler quickly broke the Lewis & Clark scoring run with a jumper that was followed by a layup from Ridley to tie the game back up at 53-53. The Pioneers were forced to take their media timeout with 8:20 left on the clock. Coming out of the timeout, back-to-back baskets from J. Henderson and a free throw from Patrick off of a Boxers' technical foul put the Pioneers back up by five with 6:51 to play.

Down by four points, the Boxers hit back-to-back baskets including Winkler's only three-pointer of the night to snatch the lead back from the Pioneers with 4:30 left on the clock. A layup by Antoine Stitt put the Boxers up by three and forced the Pioneers to call a timeout. Out of the pause, Cibull hit a key three-pointer to tie the game back up at 63-63 with 3:25 left in regulation.

Defensive pressure from the Pioneers forced the Boxers to call a timeout with 1:07 left on the clock. The Boxers inbounded the ball to Ridley who drew a foul on his basket. His two made attempts brought the score 71-67 in favor of Pacific. The Pioneers used another timeout with 46.7 seconds left to play. Out of the timeout, Cibull drove hard to the basket to make it a two-point game. J. Henderson stole the ball on Pacific's next possession and sank a layup with 5.5 to go to tie the game at 71-71 and force overtime. 

The Pioneers established a lead early in the overtime period. Out of a Boxer timeout with 1:33 left to play, Trunkett got a defensive rebound and passed it to Cibull who drew a foul and sank both free throws to put the Pioneers up by six. J. Henderson made another steal on the Boxers' next possession and skipped it to McFarland who was waiting under the basket, bringing the score to 83-75. Pacific was unable to close the gap in the final 30 seconds of play, ending the contest 87-76 for Lewis & Clark.

Deeper Look

• Jalen Lowery was unable to play, but is the Pioneers' fourth graduating senior
• Jayden Simpson and DePrez both fouled out of the game
• Lewis & Clark shot 59.6 percent from the field compared to the Boxers' 44.6 percent
• Wudel saw 13 minutes of playing time and scored four points
• McFarland ended the night with eight points and six rebounds, his second highest scoring game this season
• The Pioneers outrebounded the Boxers 39-18
• This is J. Henderson's fourth game over 20 points this season
• Patrick has 349 points on the season and sits at sixth overall in the conference for scoring

Looking Ahead

The Pioneers hit the road next week for a weekend series against the Whits to close out the 2022 season. They play Whitman on Fri., Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. and Whitworth Sat., Feb. 19 at 6 p.m.