TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team canned 18 three-pointers on Tuesday night, overwhelming Evergreen State College, 96-79 in a non-conference clash inside Olson Gymnasium. 

The visiting Geoducks (2-3) took an early five-point lead just over six minutes into the game but the homestanding Lutes (1-1) battled back, utilizing a 9-0 lead off threes from Jacob Bingham, Leighton Kingma, and Tyler Combs to secure a 21-17 advantage. PLU never looked back, building a lead as large as 14 off a pair of Luke Worley free throws with 4:08 left in the opening half and taking a 46-37 lead into the halftime intermission. 

PLU kept the Geoducks at arms length the entire second half, ballooning the lead to as many as 24-points en route to the 17-point victory.

"I'm really pleased with the way we bounced back from Friday," said Head Coach Chad Murray. "We had some great moments from Luke Worley in the first half that really sparked us and allowed us to get a double-digit lead. Then in the second half, Carlton Brown was fantastic for the brief time he was in that helped us extend it even further."

The Lutes hit 45.0 percent of their shots from beyond the arc (18-for-40), including hitting 12 in the opening stanza. Pacific Lutheran notched 25 assists on the night while enjoying a 23-8 edge in second chance points.

Leighton Kingma led the charge for the high-octane Lutes, pouring on 27 points and seven rebounds along with three steals in 29 minutes of action. 18 of Kingma's 27 came via the three while Jacob Bingham added 18 points with all of his production coming from three-point land. Tyler Combs had 13 points and five assists while Conor Geiger was the fourth Lute in double figures with 11 points and six boards. Kelton Williams made the offensive hum with the field general dishing out nine assists with eight coming in the opening half.

"My big thing with this group is to play the right way. We had 25 assists on 35 baskets which Leighton, Jacob, and Tyler took advantage of and shot the three really well tonight. The biggest key was our activity level defensively which allowed us to run and get to our spots in transition. Unlike Friday, we were able to hit a good amount and feed off that energy." 

Tuesday night marked the Lutes best offensive effort since piling on 130 against Northwest Indian College in the 2015-2016 home opener. 

The Lutes return to the hardwood next Tuesday, opening Northwest Conference play against crosstown nemesis University of Puget Sound in the first leg of the annual Battle of the South Sound series. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m.