TACOMA - Kyle MacTaggart scored 24 points to lead five players in double figures as Pacific Lutheran ended a 13-game losing streak to the Puget Sound Loggers, taking a 96-81 Northwest Conference men's basketball win on Wednesday night at Memorial Fieldhouse.

Pacific Lutheran's last victory over Puget Sound came by a 49-46 score during the 2002-03 season. The Lutes (4-6 overall, 2-1 NWC), who had been picked to finish last in the Northwest Conference standings in a preseason poll of conference coaches, overcame a seven-point halftime deficit by taking care of the basketball and shooting 53 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.

For the defending conference champion Loggers, picked to finish second in the conference, the loss was their third in as many NWC games and dropped their season record to 4-8.

After a fast start, the Lutes turned the ball over 13 times in the first half to fall behind, 48-41, at the intermission. The final 20 minutes was a completely different story, however, as the Lutes gave the ball away just four times and consistently broke down the Loggers defense for easy shots near the basket. PLU was so effective in breaking the full-court press that the Loggers eventually dropped back into halfcourt defense. In addition, Kyle MacTaggart, Cameron Reister and Andrew Earnest found the range from beyond the three-point range, helping the Lutes out-score the hosts, 55-33, in the second half.

Interestingly, both teams enjoyed their largest leads in the second half, the Lutes taking an 18-point advantage with 27 seconds left in the game after the Loggers had taken a 10-point lead in the opening 20 seconds of the final period. The Lutes out-scored the Loggers by 28 points during a 19-minute stretch.

After falling behind by 10 points, the Lutes earned a 59-59 tie on Gabe Smith's layup at the 12:32 mark following a James Conti steal. Reister, who 40 seconds earlier drained a big three-point shot, hit a pair of foul shots to give the Lutes a 61-59 lead with 12:06 remaining in the game. The Lutes would not trail after that.

MacTaggart continued his recent run of outstanding offensive basketball, making 8-of-12 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, on his way to a game-high 24 points. Joining the 6-4 junior wing in double-figure scoring were Curtis Trondsen with 14, Gabe Smith and Victor Bull with 13 each and Cameron Schilling with 11. Schilling, a 6-5 freshman forward, was a strong physical presence under the basket, tying the hustling 6-1 Smith for game-high rebound honors with nine. That duo helped the Lutes to a 50-39 dominance on the backboards.

The Lutes finished the game shooting 48 percent (32-of-67) from the field, including 6-of-14 from beyond the three-point arc. PLU also made 79 percent of its free throws (26-of-33).

Puget Sound got 17 points from Austin Boyce and and 12 points apiece from Colin Koach and Gabe Borboa. The Loggers made just 35 percent from the field (25-of-71) and 34 percent (10-of-29) from three-point range.

Pacific Lutheran returns to Northwest Conference action on Saturday, hosting the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers in an 8 p.m. tipoff at Olson Auditorium.

- PLU -