SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Drew Earnest drilled eight three-point field goals on the way to a game-high 28 points on Wednesday to lead Pacific Lutheran past Redlands, 74-62, at the National Invitational Basketball Tournament hosted by Trinity University.
With the victory, the Lutes improve their season record to 5-5, while the loss drops Redlands to 4-6 overall.
Earnest, a junior guard from Clackamas, Ore., found the shooting range in Webster Gym and finished 8-for-9 from beyond the three-point arc. He ended up one three-pointer from the school record of nine set by Erik Peterson against Mesa State on Dec. 30, 1995.
Kai Hoyt scored 17 points, Cameron Schilling tallied 13 and James Conti added 10 more for the Lutes. Hoyt and Schilling tied for team-high rebounding honors with seven apiece, and both Schilling and Conti had six assists.
The Lutes finished the game shooting 45 percent from the floor (26-for-58), including a blistering 53 percent from three-point land (10-for-19).
Redlands had four players in double figures, led by Brian Kuklok with 13. Jack Colston had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who had a 38-32 advantage on the boards. The Bulldogs shot just 38 percent from the floor (20-for-52) and only 32 percent from beyond the arc (7-for-22).
Not surprisingly, Earnest opened the scoring 46 seconds into the game with a three-point basket, and his second trey gave the Lutes their largest first half lead at 10-4 about four minutes into the contest.
Redlands rallied to tie the game at 12-12 on Kuklok's three-point basket, and it led by as many as four points in the opening half before Earnest knocked down another three-ball with 11 seconds left to leave the teams tied at 32-all at the intermission. By that point, Earnest was 4-for-4 from outside the arc.
The Bulldogs took the early advantage in the second half, going up 40-34 on Kuklok's triple with 16:49 showing on the clock. PLU responded with a 13-4 run, capped by Earnest's three-pointer with 10:47 to play, to take a 47-44 advantage. The Lutes would not trail for the remainder of the game.
Earnest's eighth-and-final triple of the game gave the Lutes a 65-52 margin with 3:15 to play, and they closed out the game by shooting 7-for-8 from the foul line in the last two minutes.
PLU is back in action at Trinity University's National Invitational Basketball Tournament at 3 p.m. Pacific time Thursday when it faces Wheaton (Ill.), which defeated Whitman College, 60-50, earlier Wednesday.
- PLU -
