FOREST GROVE, Ore. – The tying shots just wouldn't fall as Whitman College's men's basketball team dropped a narrow 61-59 decision to host Pacific (Ore.) University Saturday night in Northwest Conference action at the Boxers' Stoller Center. Matt Mounier's game-high 18 points paced the Missionaries who were at the free throw line at the end of the game.

Trailing for much of the second half -- leading four times by one point and once by two -- the Missionaries (10-5, 4-2 NWC) trailed Pacific (7-8, 2-4) by four, 60-56, with under a 10 seconds to play before a Mounier layup cut the deficit in half.

Forced to foul quickly on the inbounds play Whitman put the Boxers' Mitch Wettig at the free throw line where he missed the first of his two attempts. Wettig's second toss was good to elevate Pacific's lead to three.

The Missionaries started upcourt but Pacific fouled Christian McDonald on the inbounds play to prevent a three-point shot that would have tied the contest. McDonald drained the first shot but still trailing by two was forced to miss the second shot hoping for a Whitman rebound and put-back.

On the ensuing rebounding play Pacific was called for a foul putting the M's back at the line with 2.0 second on the clock. The first shot rimmed out and was pulled down by Mounier to the left of the basket where he put up a prayer between a pair of Boxer defenders. That shot was just short of the rim allowing Pacific to escape with a slim home-court victory for the second consecutive season. Last January the Boxers stole a 66-65 victory from the Missionaries on a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining.

Pacific led for much of the game but Whitman was always within striking distance. First-half action saw three ties and five lead changes. The Boxers' largest lead was their 29-22 advantage entering the halftime break.

Whitman broke out of the gate quickly in the second half to nab a 33-32 lead before three minutes had elapsed. The game was tied 10 times overall throughout the final 20 minutes and saw six lead changes.

Along with Mounier's 18 points the Whitties got scoring help from Evan Martin and McDonald who each finished with nine points. Three Boxer reached double-figures led by Bobby Ahern's 13 points.

Most of the statistical columns in the contest were almost even with many of the stats categories separated by, for example, one rebound or one turnover.

Whitman continues its conference slate with its next two outings, home contests at the Sherwood Athletics Center. Pacific Lutheran University travels to Walla Walla Friday for an 8 p.m. match-up, and the University of Puget Sound comes in Saturday for a 6 p.m. tip off.