FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Pacific Lutheran rallied back from a 16-point second-half deficit, but Pacific made four straight free throws in the final 15 seconds to defeat the Lutes 72-67 in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game Saturday night at the Stoller Center.
With the loss, Pacific Lutheran fell to 5-13 overall and 3-6 in conference play. Pacific improved to 10-9 overall and 5-5 in the NWC. The Lutes host Puget Sound Tuesday in a cross-town rivalry game at 8 p.m. at Names Family Court.
Brandon Lester scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three-point range, while Shane Jacob also established a career-best scoring total with 18 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go with five rebounds. As a team, the Lutes shot 50.9 percent overall (27-of-53), including 8-of-17 from three-point range (47.1 percent).
Riley Grandinetti led Pacific with 17 points, while Coby Proctor scored 14 points and both Michael Garcia and Mitch Wettig tallied 10. Pacific shot 47.9 percent overall (23-of-48), with a 12-for-20 performance in the second half (60.0 percent), and the Boxers made 10 free throws in the second half to only three for the Lutes as Pacific clinched the win at the charity stripe.
Kyle Sawtell opened the game with a three-pointer to spark a nine-point PLU streak before Pacific rallied to tie it up at 9-9. Pacific worked its way up to a nine-point lead at 23-14 with 6:23 to play in the opening period, and the Boxers went into halftime with a 33-25 advantage.
The Boxers pushed their lead to a game-best 16-points at two different points early in the second half. Pacific led 50-34 with 13:24 on the clock before a layup by Jacob and a three-pointer by Lester began a 14-point PLU streak to make it a two-point game with 7:41 to play.
Pacific Lutheran reclaimed the lead for the first time since early in the first period on a layup by Dylan Foreman that made it 55-54 with 3:54 remaining. Six straight points for the Boxers put Pacific back on top five, with a pair of Grandinetti threes making it 63-57 with 1:12 to go. PLU whittled the deficit to two on a three-pointer by Lester with 27 seconds to play, and a few Lute free throws moments later made it 68-67 with 17 seconds to go. Those were the final points for the Lutes, however, as Pacific clinched the win with four straight free throws.
