TACOMA, Wash. – In its home opener, the Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team ran into a strong, non-conference opponent in the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. The Lutes outscored the Blugolds 26-24 in the second half, but couldn't overcome UWEC's hot start in a 67-56 defeat.
The Lutes came out of the gates strong, scoring the first six points of the game and taking an 8-2 advantage.
Kelton Williams led the early charge with a layup on the Lutes' first possession and hit a three to put PLU up 6-0.
Eau Claire settled in though, and eventually took a lead they wouldn't relinquish with 8:15 left in the first half. Both teams hit six three-pointers in the first 20 minutes, but the visitors shot a blistering 58.1 percent to head to the locker room with a 43-30 advantage.
Jacob Bingham and
Leighton Kingma both hit a pair beyond the arc and had eight points each at the break. Eau Claire's Carter Brooks scored 15 of his game-high 20 to build the edge.
PLU cut the visitor lead to five on two occasions in the second 20 minutes. A three-pointer by Kingma with 15:08 left made the score 45-40 and a pair of freebies by Bingham with 13:59 remaining made it 47-42, but the home team could get no closer. A 13-4 run by the Blugolds gave them a 14-point lead with 9:12 left as they coasted to the finish line.
Kingma led the way for PLU with 14 points, while Bingham chipped in 13.
Jordan Thomas and
Conor Geiger nearly had doubles-doubles as Thomas finished with nine points and nine rebounds and Geiger tallied eight points and eight boards.
Spencer Page hit five from long range to finish 17 and Cole Rabedeaux scored 16 points on 16 shots.
The Lutes (2-4) will head to Portland Bible College on Friday for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. PLU's next home game is on Friday, December 20 against Northwest Indian College.
