Records Broken as Geoducks Fall to Boxers, 127-115
FOREST GROVE, Ore. - Two teams showed up to play a non-conference collegiate men's basketball game on Friday night, and what ensued was a track meet of sorts with the host Pacific Boxers rallying to beat Evergreen, 127-115.
The game was the season opener for both squads, and the up-and-down pace was enough to exhaust the teams, officials and even the fans.
Evergreen led 62-60 at the half and by as much as 11 points with 9:50 left in the second period before the Boxers, who played 40 minutes of full-court pressure with a 16-player rotation, forced a number of late turnovers to snatch the victory. The key was a 14-0 Pacific run in 2 minutes, 17 seconds that turned a 106-99 Evergreen lead into a 113-106 Pacific advantage with 5:15 to play. The Geoducks turned the ball over on five consecutive possessions during the game-changing swing.
The contest set a number of Evergreen men's basketball single-game records and came close to a couple more. The Geoducks' 115 points establishes a new record for highest losing score in a game, surpassing the record of 100 set against Eastern Oregon in December 2006. Pacific's 127 points exceeds the record for most points by an opponent, formerly 119 by British Columbia set on Oct. 31, 2015. With 242 combined points between the teams, the old record of 211 (Carroll 117, Evergreen 94 on Dec. 12, 1998) was shattered. Additionally, the Geoducks turned the ball over 42 times, including 24 in the second half, to blow past the old record of 30 turnovers first set in February 1998 and later tied in November 2006.
Evergreen finished 34-for-43 at the foul line, with 44 attempts being the current record, and with 41 defensive rebounds they came within two of tying that record.
Ryan Quigley led five Evergreen players in double figures with 24 points, and he added nine rebounds. Jared Roffler put together a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Raven Frazier was an assist away from a double-double with 19 points and nine assists. Lukas Kelly added 14 points and eight rebounds and Dalton Groenewold contributed 10 points and six boards for the Geoducks.
Evergreen shot 61 percent from the field (39-for-64) and only attempted 10 three-pointers, sinking three of those.
Brevin Brown led five Pacific players in double figures with 30 points. The Boxers shot 41 percent from the field while taking 103 shots (making 43), and they were 28 percent from long range, hitting 13 of their 46 attempts.
The Boxers were credited with 24 steals, including 18 in the second half.
Evergreen returns to action at 3 p.m. Sunday when they face the Linfield Wildcats in McMinnville, Ore.