TACOMA, Wash. – The Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team shot 58.2 percent from the field and drilled 15 three-pointers in a 94-86 victory over Warner Pacific University at the University of Puget Sound on Saturday evening. 
 
"After last night's heart breaker, I was really interested to see how our group would respond tonight," said PLU Head Coach Chad Murray.  "I was blown away by the way they rallied around each other and played the way this team is capable of playing on both ends of the floor.  I'm really proud of them for being able to get up off the ground, dust off and throw themselves back into another challenge.  We got a lot of great performances from guys both nights, but tonight we were able to validate those efforts with a much-needed win.
 
The Lutes (2-2) evened their record with the victory over the Knights and shredded the Warner Pacific zone all evening.  In the first half, PLU canned seven from long distance and Leighton Kingma and Conor Geiger both hit double figures as the Lutes led by 12, 46-34, after the first 20 minutes. 
 
PLU continued to move the ball effectively against the Warner Pacific 2-3 zone and get easy baskets, as they built a 22-point advantage with 7:36 on the clock after Geiger dialed one up from long distance.
 
The Knights whittled the lead all the way down to six points with 37 seconds remaining with an effective full court press, but clutch free throws by Kelton Williams and Jacob Bingham thwarted the Warner Pacific comeback. 
 
Kingma led the way with 23 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field.  Geiger poured in 20 more and tied Jordan Thomas for the team lead with eight rebounds.  All five starters hit double figures as Thomas and Williams both had 11, while Bingham added 10.  Seth Hall hit all three of his three-point attempts for nine and freshman Brett Williams hit two more behind the arc and finished with eight. 
 
The Lutes continue non-conference play on Tuesday at The Evergreen State College at 7:00 p.m. before returning home for a date with the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Saturday.