SALEM, Ore. - The Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball squad extended its win streak to three on Friday evening, scoring early and often in a 97-70 blowout at the expense of Northwest Conference rival Willamette University.
 
The homestanding Bearcats (1-13, 0-5 NWC) held an early 11-10 advantage five minutes into the game before a Seth Hall three touched off a 7-0 Lute run to seize the lead. The Lutes' (7-8, 3-3 NWC) advantage would bloom into double-digits with 6:41 left in the half courtesy of a Blake Uyehara trey. PLU's lead continued to expand, enjoying a 51-29 advantage at the halftime intermission. 
 
PLU kept the Bearcats at arm's length the entire second half, enjoying a lead of 20 or more points the final 20 minutes of play en route to the 27-point victory.
 
"The focus tonight was to stay in the moment and take care of the task right in front of us," said Head Coach Chad Murray. "I thought we did a great job with that tonight. We had a lot of excellent performances again by a bunch of different guys."
 
Leighton Kingma and Jacob Bingham paced the Lute scoring outburst, both finishing with 20 points on the night. KIngma shot seven-for-12 from the field with four rebounds while Bingham was on fire, hitting six of his 10 attempts from beyond the arc, scoring his 20 points in just 14 minutes of court time. Jordan Thomas had 13 points and five assists with Seth Hall adding 13. Dylan McConnell finished one point shy of a double-double, netting nine points and 10 boards.
 
"Jacob shot the ball really well and Dylan did a great job on the glass during his time out there. I thought we handled the pressure and the 3-2 zone Willamette played relatively well but we created separation because of our defense. I'm really pleased with how the group has embraced our system and how they're taking pride in getting stops and playing for each other."
 
PLU shot 52.2 percent from the floor (35-for-67), including 40.6 percent (13-for-32) from distance while owning a 22-6 edge in points off turnovers.
 
The Lutes return to the court next Friday, facing Lewis & Clark College at 8 p.m. inside Olson Gymnasium.