PARKLAND – Pacific Lutheran opened Northwest Conference play in solid form Friday night, limiting the prolific George Fox offense to 30 points below its season average to defeat the Bruins 72-64 in men's basketball action at Names Family Court.
The win snaps a five-game skid for the Lutes and begins 2013-14 NWC season on the right foot for PLU, which improves to 4-6 overall and 1-0 in conference play. George Fox falls to 8-3 overall and 1-1 in the NWC. The Lutes host Lewis & Clark Saturday at 8 p.m. to close out the weekend.
"Tonight we played a very good George Fox team, and we did something that we haven't been doing, and that was finish the game," PLU head coach Steve Dickerson said. "We made key passes, key shots and key free throws when we had to."
Arvid Isaksen scored a career-high 28 points, connecting on nine of his 12 shot attempts overall and four of five from three-point range. He was also a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line and added 10 rebounds to post his second double-double of the season.
Terrell Williams added 10 points for the Lutes, and Bryce Miller finished with 10 rebounds and six assists. PLU shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) overall and 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from long distance while also making 17 of 18 shots from the charity stripe (94.4 percent). Sean Atkins scored 15 points to lead a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Bruins. A.J. Grant and Seth Brent each scored 14, and Spencer Bolte added 11.
Defensively, the Lutes limited a George Fox offense that had been averaging better than 94 points per game to 37.7 percent shooting (23-of-61), including 18.8 percent (6-of-32) from beyond the arc. The Lutes also finished the game with a 46-to-24 rebounding advantage over the Bruins.
George Fox likely realized it wouldn't put 100 points on the PLU defense in the first five minutes of play when the Bruins went scoreless. Neither team scored in the first three-and-a-half minutes until a Kai Hoyt free throw put PLU up 2-0. Miller and Isaksen followed with buckets to give PLU a 6-0 lead before Bolte got the Bruins on the board with a jumper at the 14:33 mark.
PLU took its largest lead of the game a few minutes later, when Isaksen dropped a three and Hoyt followed with a layup to make it 14-4 before the Bruins scored the next four points. George Fox actually closed out the first half on a 13-5 run to make it a one-point game at 30-29 going into halftime. The Bruins continued that run to open the second half, scoring 11 of the first 13 points of the period to claim their largest lead at 40-32 following a pair of Bolte free throws.
Isaksen ended the run with a layup, and the Lutes took the next five minutes pulling within two points following another Isaksen trey. Terrell Williams followed with another three-pointer to put PLU back on top 48-47 with 11:31 to play, and neither team led by more than two points over the next seven minutes.
George Fox claimed its final advantage of the contest at 58-56 when Bolte made two free throws with 5:09 remaining before Isaksen tied it up with his own free throws on the Lutes' next possession. Andrew Alness followed with a jumper and Isaksen made a layup and then two more free throws to close out an eight-point PLU run that made it 64-58 with under three minutes to go.
Atkins responded with a three for George Fox, but Daniel Landram hit a layup to keep PLU up five going into the final minute of play. The Lutes made four free throws in the final 25 seconds to close out the eight-point win.
"It was a great win for us and it's a great way to start the conference," Dickerson said. "We can enjoy it for a few minutes, and then we have to get ready for another good team tomorrow night with Lewis & Clark."
