WALLA WALLA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball squad learned the hard way why Northwest Conference rival Whitman College is the nation's fourth-ranked team on Friday night, stumbling 113-63 to the host Blues inside the Sherwood Center.

"Anytime you get the opportunity to play against one of the nation's best teams it is exciting and unique," said Head Coach Chad Murray. "There were times tonight where I thought we got sucked into their tempo and didn't show a lot of discipline to counter what they were doing defensively. When we moved the ball via the pass to break their pressure I thought we were fine but when we tried to dribble through it, we ran into a lot of trouble."

The host Blues (15-1, 7-0 NWC) raced out to a 10-2 lead and methodically pulled away, enjoying a 59-26 advantage at the halftime intermission.

Jack Poling came off the bench and led the Lutes, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds, shooting an efficient seven-for-nine from the floor. Nasseen Gutierrez-Orozco added nine points, five rebounds, and dive assists while Leighton Kingma and Luke Worley both collected nine points for the Lutes (6-9, 3-4 NWC).

"This is a great experience and we're headed in the right direction. I know that it may not seem like it to outsiders ot people who don't know our program but there are some clear indicators of our improvement."

The Lutes return to the court tomorrow evening, facing sixth-ranked Whitworth University at 6 p.m. in Spokane.