SALEM, Ore. – Senior D'Ante Dean and first-year player Kai Brown combined to score 44 points, as Willamette University's men's basketball team dropped a heart-breaker, 74-73, on Senior Day against the visiting Boxers of Pacific University of Oregon Saturday afternoon inside Cone Field House.
With today's result, Willamette closes out the 2024-25 season with an overall record of 9-15 and 3-13 in Northwest Conference play. On the other hand, Pacific finished its season with a record of 11-14 overall and 6-10 in NWC contests.
Dean led all players with a game-high 23 points on 10-for-11 shooting from the field, while Brown added 21 points for Willamette on 6-of-9 shooting that included a 3-for-4 clip from beyond the three-point line. Along with the aforementioned Bearcat duo, senior Ryder Hsiung provided eight points with fellow senior Josiah Frank and sophomore Anujan Tennathur adding six points each. On the boards, Dean led all players with eight rebounds as Brown pulled down seven boards and sophomore Will Hurst aided with four rebounds. Frank, Hsiung, and Tennathur led the Bearcats with three assists each, while Dean and Brown also dished out a pair of assists each.
Over the opening seven minutes of the game, Pacific seemed to not miss as the visiting Boxers built a 17-point lead (23-6) capped by a two-pointer by Lucas Winkler with 13:01 on the clock. After pushing its lead to as much as 20 points (39-19) with 4:35 remaining in the first half, Willamette used an 18-4 run over a span of three-plus minutes to pull within six points (43-37) on a fast break jump shot by Brown with 52 seconds left. Despite another Winkler bucket, the host Bearcats got within seven points (45-38) at halftime thanks to a Brown free throw for the final points of the opening 20 minutes of play.
The second half began with Willamette putting together a 17-6 run over the opening seven-plus minutes to earn a four-point advantage (55-51) on a three-pointer by Brown with 12:16 left in the game. Neither team would hold more than a two-point lead over the next six minutes, as Pacific grabbed a 68-65 lead on a floater in the paint by Jake Blazona with just over five minutes left. The host Bearcats would recover and score the next six points on back-to-back three-pointers by Frank and Hsiung en route to securing a 71-68 lead with just under four minutes remaining. Pacific's Winkler would pull the visiting Boxers back within a single point (71-70) before Dean connected on a putback to give Willamette a 73-70 lead with three-and-a-half minutes to go in the game. Over the next one minute and 42 seconds, Pacific recovered scoring four straight points to take a 74-73 lead with less than two minutes left. Neither team could find the bottom of the net over the final few minutes, as Willamette had a chance to win the game with less than one second left as Hsiung unleashed a three-pointer from the wing that fell short landing into the awaiting arms of a Pacific defender for the final one-point margin of victory for the visiting Boxers.
For Pacific, Winkler and Blazona led the Boxers with 18 and 17 points, respectively, to go along with eight points each by Devin Fortune, Brody Baumgartner, and Brenden Lapierre. On the boards, Winkler pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds to go along with a game-high 10 assists.
As a team, Willamette combined to shoot 26-for-49 (53.1%) from the field that included a 6-for-21 (28.6%) showing from beyond the three-point line. The Bearcats were also a combined 15-for-21 (71.4%) at the free throw line. On the other hand, Pacific combined to shoot 29-for-69 (42.0%) from the field, 6-for-21 (28.6%) from long distance, and 10-for-14 (71.4%) at the charity stripe.
Prior to today's game, four seniors – Dean, Frank, Dylan Green, and Hsiung – were honored for their time in a Bearcat uniform. The quartet closed out their time in the Cardinal and Gold with a combined 277 games played, 2,446 points, 853 rebounds, 373 assists, 197 steals, and 83 blocked shots. Frank closed out his four-year career by scoring a combined 1,147 points (avg. 12.3 points per game in 93 career games), which places him among the all-time Bearcat greats that scored more than 1,000 career points and a scoring average of 12-or-more points per game.
Willamette closes out the 2024-25 season and now looks toward next year with 18 players slated to return for the Bearcats.
