TACOMA – Pacific Lutheran built a 10-point first-half lead, but Puget Sound rallied back to take a 77-70 rivalry win in Northwest Conference men's basketball action Wednesday night at Memorial Fieldhouse.
Pacific Lutheran falls to 4-10 overall and 1-4 in conference play with the loss, while Puget Sound improves to 7-7 overall and 3-2 in the NWC. The Lutes return to action Saturday, when they will take on Pacific at 8 p.m. in Forest Grove, Ore.
Daniel Landram finished with 12 points, while Arvid Isaksen tallied a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Bryce Miller also scored 11, and Kevin McCrossin made a trio of three-pointers to finish with nine points.
A.J. Maw totaled 15 points as five Loggers reached double-figures. Rex Nelson, Erin Barber and Keith Shattuck each scored 13, and Dan Cheledinas finished with 12 points and a team-best 12 rebounds.
PLU finished the night with a .355 shooting percentage (22-of-62), while UPS rallied back from missing its first seven attempts to shoot 45.8 percent (22-of-48), including an even 60 percent (12-of-20) in the second half. Both teams shot well from the free throw line, with PLU hitting 77.9 percent of its attempts (21-of-27) and UPS going for 80.6 percent (25-of-31).
It took almost five minutes of play before either team scored, with the Lutes getting on the board first on a pair of free throws by Terrell Williams. Nelson tied it up a moment later at the charity stripe, but the Lutes scored the next nine points as UPS did not make a basket for the first 7:47 of play.
Shattuck ended the drought for the Loggers with a three-pointer, sparking a UPS run that would see the hosts score 33 points in just over 12 minutes before halftime. Shattuck was at the center of that run, making three of his four three-point attempts and four of five shots overall to finish the half with 13 points. After missing their first seven shots the Loggers made 10 of their next 20, including six of nine attempts from long range.
The UPS run allowed the Loggers to overcome a 10-point PLU lead midway through the period, with UPS taking its first lead of the game following a pair of Nick Holden free throws in the final minutes of the half. The teams hung close for the last three minutes of the opening half, going into the break tied at 35-35.
Puget Sound took a 42-39 lead three minutes into the second half, but a layup by Landram and consecutive three-pointers by Isaksen and McCrossin put PLU up five at 47-42. UPS scored the next five points to tie it up before another five-point run by PLU. The Loggers again tied it up at 55-55 with just under eight minutes to play.
It took another seven minutes before either team built a multiple-possession lead, with Puget Sound breaking through when a pair of Barber free throws made it 75-70 with 1:06 to play. A missed jumper by the Lutes gave the ball back to UPS, but James Osorio missed both free throws. Unfortunately for PLU, the Lutes missed a layup on the next possession, and Cheledinas hit both free throws to close out the seven-point UPS win.
