PARKLAND - Pacific Lutheran won its fourth straight Northwest Conference contest and stayed within a game of first place in the standings, beating the visiting Whitman Missionaries, 84-76, on Friday night in Olson Auditorium.

The Lutes improved their conference record to 4-1 and evened their overall mark to 6-6 with the win that featured a second half rally from a seven-point deficit. With the loss, Whitman drops to 3-2 in the conference and 9-5 overall.

Pacific Lutheran took an early 8-3 lead, but the first half featured several ties and lead changes until the closing minutes when the Lutes were able to open up an eight-point bulge, 42-34, on Cameron Reister's layup with 49 seconds left in the period. Whitman closed out the half with four straight points on a LuQuam Thompson jumper and two David Michaels free throws.

The Missionaries built on that momentum in the opening minutes of the second half, taking their largest lead of the game at 51-44 on a free throw by Thompson with 15:08 remaining in the contest.

At that point, the Lutes replied with a crucial 21-5 run to build a 65-56 advantage with 8:40 remaining. MacTaggart scored nine points and Andrew Earnest added seven more during the game-changing run.

The Lutes led by as much as 11 points, 79-68, with 2:15 left when the Missionaries made a final push. Brandon Shaw's jumper in the lane with 47 seconds left cut the deficit 81-76, but they would not score after that and the Lutes closed out the game for the victory.

MacTaggart scored a career-high 26 points to lead both teams in scoring. The lanky 6-4 junior wing from Goodyear, Ariz., converted 11-of-20 shots from the field and also grabbed six rebounds. Cameron Schilling added 10 points and Victor Bull hauled down 10 rebounds for the winners.

PLU shots 53 percent (34-of-64) from the field and 43 percent (6-of-14) from beyond the arc. Theuy won the rebound battle, 42-35, but shot only 45 percent (10-of-22) at the charity stripe.

Shaw paced Whitman in scoring with 17 points and was the team's only douible-figure scorer. He hit 5-of-7 from the field and 7-of-12 at the foul line. Whitman shot 42 percent (23-of-55) from the field, 33 percent (8-of-24) from beyond the arc and 61 percent (22-of-36) at the foul line.

Both teams return to Northwest Conference action at 4 p.m. Saturday. Whitman plays at the University of Puget Sound, while the Lutes battle Whitworth, currently 5-0 in the conference, in Olson Auditorium.

- PLU -