Boxers, Poets Power to Victories on Day Two of Surf's Up Classic

Honolulu, Hawaii – The second day of the 2012 Surf’s Up Classic served up a pair of close games with Pacific defeating host Cal Lutheran 73-70 to return home undefeated before Whittier came back to beat George Fox 80-79 at Kalani High School.

Both games were physical with 82 combined fouls, sending players to the free-throw line for a total of 111 shots. Cal Lutheran was responsible for 50 of those free-throws, connecting for 39 to shoot at a 78 percent clip.

Game one was a back-and-forth-battle with the Boxers opening a 40-30 halftime lead before the Kingsmen powered back with 40 second half points, though Pacific scored 33 for the win. Cal Lutheran had a number of chances down the stretch, but finished just 1-for-8 from behind the arc to shoot 20 percent from long range, proving to be detrimental.

Pacific opened the game shooting 63 percent from the floor and finished a combined 55.1 percent in the game. The Boxers put three players in double figure scoring with Danny Brakebush scoring a game-high 25 on 9-for-12 shooting, including 3-for-4 from behind the three-point line. Andrew Beatty and Dustin Bowers scored 13 and 11, respectively and Beatty and Colin Westers tied with a game-high six assists apiece. Beatty added a pair of blocks while Bowers came away with four steals.

For Cal Lutheran, Martin Flowers went to the line 11 times, converting nine into points and finished with a team-leading 17 points. Dan Wade was perfect at the stripe, going 6-for-6, to tally 13 total points with Guy Lynott scoring 12 and Jayvaughn Nettles coming off the bench for 10. Nettles led all players with five steals and had the only CLU block of the game.

Pacific out rebounded CLU 34 to 25, though each squad came down with eight offensive boards. Westers recorded a game-high eight and there were three Kingsmen sharing the team-lead with four.

Box Score: PAC 73, CLU 70
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In game two the teams were as equal as could be both on the court and on paper. Whittier slightly out-shot George Fox, 50 percent to 47.6 percent, overall, though the Bruins were 37 percent from long range compared to 35 percent for the Poets. The biggest difference was from the line where WC combined to go 11-for-14 for a 78.6 percentage and GFU hit just 40.9 percent of their chances. Whittier also had a one-rebound edge with 37 although George Fox had 16 offensive, three more than the Poets.

GFU sprinted out to a 12-4 lead and controlled the momentum for the first 10 minutes of the first half pushing their advantage to as much as 12 at 31-19. Whittier quietly chipped away and pulled within a point at the intermission with the scoreboard reading 46-45 in favor of the Bruins.

The teams were never separated by more than six points in the second half and each team held its fair share of leads but it was a Willie Mabane layup with four seconds remaining in regulation that put the Poets on top. The WC defense forced a Bruins’ turnover and held on for the one-point win.

Whittier was led by Jacob Porter with 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting as he also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, five offensive. Chris Barnes-Williams finished with 15 points with Mebane tallying 12 and Phillip Thomas scoring 10. Thomas handed out five assists for Whittier.

Sean Atkins led all players with 23 for the Bruins, but was held to just three second half points after firing off 20 in the opening period. Jason Martin finished with 12 and Anthony Sanchez and A.J. Grant had 10 apiece. Sanchez also led all players with nine rebounds, handing out three assists. Jon Adrian equaled Thomas with five assists to share the game-high.

Box Score: WC 80, GFU 79

Cal Lutheran will be back in action Wednesday, Nov. 28 when they tip-off with Pacifica at the Gilbert Arena at 7:30 p.m.

Tournament Website: 2012 Surf's Up Classic