BEAVERTON, Ore. - It came down to the final match - the No. 1 singles with two of the top players in the Northwest Conference going head-to-head - and Pacific University's Tony Zuroske edged George Fox University's Scott Barnett in three sets to give the Boxers a 5-4 win over the Bruins in men's tennis action Saturday here at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center.

Barnett and Preston Mann gave the Bruins a win at No. 1 doubles, 8-6 over Zuroske and Spencer Hing, but the Boxers battled back to win the next two doubles.  Michael Okada and Scott Kawamura downed Peter Brown and Josiah Jackson 8-4 at No. 2, and Alen Suklje and Patrick Kinghorn topped Justin McClain and Andy Tweet 8-2 at No. 3.

In singles, George Fox took Nos. 3-5.  Mann measured Okada 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) at No. 3, McClain dropped Derek Cooley 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4, and Jackson edged Suklje 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 5.  The Boxers took the No. 2 singles, Hing over Brown 6-3, 6-2, and No. 6, Eric Furuya over Pax Magaway 6-4, 6-1, setting up the deciding No. 1 singles.  Barnett took the first set 7-6 (7-4 in the tiebreaker) before Zuroske rallied to win 7-5, 6-3 in the next two sets for secure the match for Pacific.

“Regardless of the outcome of the match, I really could not be more proud of our guys,” said George Fox coach Neal Ninteman.  “After falling behind 2-1 in doubles, they fought back valiantly against one of the stronger teams in the conference and narrowly missed pulling out another great victory.  In the end, it came down to a few shots that simply didn't go our way. It's always a bit heartbreaking to lose such a close match like that, but we'll take what we can from the experience and keep moving forward.  We're having a great season and will be ready to go again next week.

“There were plenty of positives tonight.  Scott and Preston pulling out the win at the No. 1 doubles position was huge – they played terrific, coming through big-time in a match we had to have.  In singles, the middle of our lineup continued their superb play, with Preston, Justin, and Josiah all coming up with impressive wins.  Scott also battled bravely against one of the league's toughest players in a tight three-set match that could have easily gone either way.  We've got nothing to hang our heads about.”

NEXT: George Fox (4-2, NWC 3-2) returns to the courts next Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. match at Lewis & Clark College ... Pacific (5-2, NWC 4-2) does not play again until Wednesday, March 16, hosting Hardin-Simmons University at 3:00 p.m.