By Christian Bond, PLU Sports Information Student Writer
NEWBERG, Ore. – Brandon Lester scored a career-best 31 points for the Pacific Lutheran men's basketball team, but it was not Saturday night as the Lutes fell to George Fox 82-74 at Wheeler Sports Center.
Lester erupted for 31 points in 33 minutes of time on the floor, connecting on 11 of 20 shot attempts from the field, including four out of 10 from three-point range, and shooting 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Lester's 31 points were the Lutes' most in a game since Kyle MacTaggart also scored 31 in a game during the 2010-11 season. Lester's performance came following an off-day Friday that saw the junior score a season-low two points.
"He came back from last night and was Brandon Lester," PLU head coach Steve Dickerson said. "We have got to defend better. We got back to being ourselves, but we have to defend better. We did not make critical plays at the end of the game."
The back-and-forth game featured four tie scores and six lead changes. George Fox led by 66-55 with seven minutes remaining before Lester scored six of the next eight points for the Lutes to pull PLU within three with 5:12 to go. The Bruins built their lead back to eight a minute later, but PLU worked its way back to make it a one-point game at 73-72 in the final two minutes. That was the closest the Lutes got, as Rico Thomas made a three-pointer on the Bruins' next possession and George Fox put the game away with four free throws down the stretch.
Jared Christy supplied a double-double for the Lutes, scoring 14 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Dylan Foreman added 10 points and five rebounds to go with three assists, and Bryce Miller scored all nine of his points at the free throw line while gathering eight rebounds. The Lutes shot 33.3 percent (21-of-63) from the field for the game.
PLU out-rebounded George Fox 44-to-34. The Bruins made up for it with a strong shooting performance. As a team the Bruins shot 50.8 percent (30-of-59) for the game, and George Fox shot 50 percent (13-of-26) on three-pointers.
"They usually shoot well when we come down here," Dickerson said of the Bruins. "That's normally a bugaboo of ours: they usually shoot pretty well. Tonight they shot extremely well form three. We did all of those things, and also went to the foul line 34 times. There were stretches where we did make defensive shots, but we did not take advantage of the opportunities we had."
The loss dropped Pacific Lutheran's record to 9-4 overall and 2-2 in Northwest Conference play. The Lutes will have a chance to bounce back at home next weekend, beginning with a Military Appreciation Night matchup against Lewis & Clark Friday at 8 p.m. at Names Family Court.
"We learned that we have to get back to the basics," Dickerson said of the trip to Oregon. "We have to get back to our basic offense. We have to move continuously on offense. On defense we have to keep working continuously. It has turned into a mind game. People are no longer taking them lightly. That's tough, it takes a certain mentality to play when you are not the underdog. We have been the underdog for years. We'll get it worked out this week."
