Freshman Cameron Schilling scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Pacific Lutheran to an 83-73 Northwest Conference men's basketball victory over the visiting Lewis & Clark College Pioneers on Saturday night at Olson Auditorium.

Pacific Lutheran won for the third consecutive time in Northwest Conference play to improve its NWC record to 3-1 and its overall mark to 5-6. With the loss, Lewis & Clark is now 1-3 in the conference and 2-10 overall.

Schilling, a freshman forward out of Federal Way's Decatur High School, made 7-of-10 shots from the field and both of his free throw attempts. He grabbed eight of his rebounds on the defensive end and helped Pacific Lutheran to a 48-36 dominance in that category.

Andrew Earnest came off the bench to score 15 points in the winning cause, and he was followed by Kyle MacTaggart with 12 points and James Conti with 11. The Lutes shot 47 percent from the field (31-of-66) and 29 percent (5-of-17) from three-point range. PLU enjoyed an advantage at the foul line, making 16-of-20 to just 5-of-11 for the visitors, who took more than half of their shots from beyond the three-point line.

Lewis & Clark was paced by PJ Taylor's 16 points, including four three-point field goals. Josh Kollasch added 15 points and James Hollins and Kyle Meeuwsen both added 14 for the Pioneers, who shot 39 percent (28-of-71) from the field and 32 percent (12-of-38) from beyond the three-point line.

The Lutes jumped out to an early 13-5 lead, but Hollins drained a trio of three-point bombs to help the Pioneers tie the game at 15-15 with 12:19 left in the first half. Kelly Edwards and Kollasch both added baskets to give Lewis & Clark a 19-15 advantage, it largest lead of the game, with 11:08 to play.

Pacific Lutheran regained the lead at 23-21 on Schilling's layup with 7:37 left in the half, but Edward hit a layup with just over a minute left to give the Pioneers a 40-39 halftime lead.

The two teams traded baskets to start the second half, but  Victor Bull converted a layup to give the Lutes a 43-42 advantage with 18:42 left in the game, and they kept the lead throughout the remainder of the game. PLU had several 11-point leads late in the contest before settling for the 10-point win.

The Lutes return to Northwest Conference action next weekend when they host the Whitman Missionaries at 6 p.m. Friday and the Whitworth Pirates at 4 p.m. Saturday in Olson Auditorium. The men's games next weekend will precede the PLU women's games against the same opponents.

- PLU -