OLYMPIA, Wash. - Jordan Thomas collected his first double-double of the season but inconsistent play plagued the Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team on Tuesday night as in-state rival Evergreen State College rallied to the 76-71 victory inside the Costantino Recreation Center. 

The Lutes started off the game red-hot, scoring 11 of the first 13 points, including a pair of treys from Conor Geiger. The host Geoducks slowly chipped away at the Lute lead, tying the game at 32 before taking a 39-33 halftime advantage after outscoring the Lutes 18-5 over the final eight minutes of the opening half. 

Evergreen State's advantage ballooned to 11 just under six minutes into the second half but the Lutes clawed back into the game, tying the contest at 62 with 4:32 remaining on a Seth Hall three the old fashioned way, draining a basket and an ensuing free throw. The final 3:41 of the game saw six lead changes before the Geoducks took the lead for good with 60 seconds remaining in the game and never looked back as PLU had a turnover and a missed three in its final two possessions before a pair of free throws with one second left iced the game for Evergreen State. 

"We had stretches where we looked great and then we also had some stretches where we like like we'd never met each other on both ends and we need to cut that out," said Head Coach Chad Murray. "We got off to a hot start and relaxed and allowed Evergreen to get comfortable and do what they do really well- getting to the basket."

Thomas finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, hitting six of his eight shots from the field. Leighton Kingma led the Lutes with 16 points while Seth Hall and Geiger added 11 and nine, respectively. 

"The game came down to our inability to take care of the ball and also not being able to get critical stops when we took the lead a few different times down the stretch. I thought we again showed tremendous fight giving ourselves a chance to win another close one. Our overall improvement is obvious and the next step in our process will be to be able to handle these crunch time moments and come away with hard fought wins instead of tough losses."

PLU held a slim 33-30 rebounding edge but turnovers proved to be an Achilles heel with Evergreen State enjoying a 21-6 edge in points off turnovers. 

The Lutes return to action on Saturday afternoon, facing the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the home opener inside Olson Gymnasium. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m.