TACOMA, Wash. – Facing one of the top teams in the Northwest Conference for the second straight night, the Pacific Lutheran University basketball team fought valiantly against Whitworth University on Saturday, but the Lutes eventually succumbed to some hot shooting from the Pirates in an 87-81 defeat. 

PLU (9-10, 5-4 NWC) trailed by as many as 22 in the first half as the Pirates had all of their cannons firing early.  In the first 20 minutes, Whitworth was 9-for-18 from the three-point arc, while holding the Lutes to under 40 percent from the field. 

The Lutes slowly crawled back into the game, cutting the edge to just 12 at the half after a 12-4 run to close the first frame.  Sophomore Jordan Thomas was critical to the run, scoring eight of his 18 points and assisting on a basket by Dylan McConnell. 

Seth Hall finally got the home team back even at 50-50 when he connected on a three-pointer with 12:40 remaining in the game, but senior Ben College was simply unstoppable on the evening.  College accounted for 44 of Whitworth's 87 points, 32 of which came in the second half, and stroked 11-of-16 from long range.  The Pirate was also a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe as he helped ice the win for visitors.     

The Pirates continued to fire from long range and eventually built their lead back to 14.  PLU remained pesky as Kelton Williams scored four straight points to cut the lead to just seven with under three minutes left, but the Lutes simply ran out of steam for the stretch run. 

Junior guard Seth Hall tried to match College in the second half as he registered 19 of his team-high 23 in the final 20 minutes.  Leighton Kingma added 20 points and a game-high nine boards.  Thomas was an outstanding all-around performer as usual, adding five rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block. 

PLU held a 38-36 rebounding edge, but couldn't overcome a 17-for-30 effort from beyond the three-point arc by the visitors. 

The Lutes will hit the road next weekend, taking on George Fox University on Friday night before a stiff road test at Linfield College on Saturday.