PARKLAND, Wash. - Willamette jumped out to a big first half lead, weathered a furious Pacific Lutheran rally in the middle of the second half, and then pulled away late in defeating the host Lutes, 80-58, in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game played in Olson Auditorium.

The loss, the Lutes' sixth in a row, brought to an end their conference tournament playoff hopes. Still, the young Lutes have exceeded the expectations of the NWC coaches, who in their preseason poll predicted PLU to finish in last place. The Lutes are 8-14 overall and 6-9 in the nine-team conference, good for fifth place.

The visiting Bearcats, 8-16 overall and 5-10 in the conference, blitzed the Lutes in the opening half, opening up a 38-22 lead at the intermission. They shot 43 percent from the field, but more importantly made 7-of-16 from beyond the three-point line. Marcus Holmes hit three long bombs and Terrell Malley added two more as Willamette scorched the nets early from long range. Additionally, the Bearcats had 12 assists on their 15 baskets.

The Lutes, meanwhile, shot just 37 percent and were 1-for-8 from beyond the arc. Willamette also held a 23-15 edge in rebounding at that point, and there seemed little hope that the Lutes could get back into the game and keep their playoff hopes alive.

Holmes, who scored a game-high 19 points, gave Willamette a 45-26 lead with 18:08 left in the game. That's when the Lutes started their charge, whittling away their deficit and closing to three points, 54-51, on a Curtis Trondson layup with 8:43 left in the game.

That's all the closer the Lutes would get, however, as the Bearcats responded with a 20-2 run, including nine points from Taylor Mounts, to gain an insurmountable 74-53 advantage with 2:56 remaining.

Willamette finished the game shooting 46 percent from the field (34-for-74), including 44 percent accuracy (10-for-23) from beyond the arc. The visitors also enjoyed a 44-36 rebounding edge with Mitchell pulling down a game-high 10 boards. Mounts and Malley both scored 15 points and Mitchell added 14 for the winners.

The Lutes, who scored the opening basket for their only lead of the game, shot 41 percent from the field (26-for-64) and only 15 percent (3-for-20) from long range. Gabe Smith and Victor Bull were the only PLU players in double figures, both scoring 10 points. Bull led the Lutes with seven rebounds.

PLU closes out its 2009-10 season at 8 p.m. tomorrow night when it hosts the George Fox Bruins in Olson Auditorium. Willamette finishes its season at home against the Pacific Boxers.

- PLU -