TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team tips off its 2021-22 season on Tuesday with a home opener against The Evergreen State College. The Lutes are coming off a shortened season last year in which they compiled a 7-3 record against the other Washington institutions.

In their last complete season 2019-2020, the Lutes returned to the Northwest Conference tournament for the first time in four years and will be looking to make a postseason run once again this year.

The Lutes are returning nearly 90% of their scoring from last year after only losing Kelton Williams, Luke Worley, and Grayson Peet. Seth Hall has returned to the Lutes roster for one more season after leading the team with 20.2 points per game. 

Jordan Thomas enters his senior season for the Lutes, looking to once again provide much needed scoring and lockdown defense on the other end. Thomas averaged nearly 14 points per game last season while also bringing down eight rebounds per game.

Also back for the Lutes is Sean McCurdy, Brett Williams, and Tyler Ashmore who all averaged over seven points per game last season.

The Lutes have a balanced roster this season with players from every class primed to play a role in this season's success. Head coach Chad Murray is excited about the depth of his roster this season. 

"We have a great mix of experience and fresh perspective on the roster.  Our older guys have been fantastic so far in their willingness to share their knowledge with our younger players.  Their legacy means a lot to them and they want to continue to move the program along in a positive direction.  We will lean heavily on our upperclassman this year in many ways."

The Lutes have started to gain some attention for their strong play in recent years and will look to show the country what type of team they are.

"I'd like to see our guys embrace each other as teammates and begin to establish our identity as a team.  We know what we'd like our identity to be, a tough, blue collar group that plays hard for each other.  But we can't just talk about that, it has to be something we actually do in order for it to be our true identity." said Murray.

The Lutes were picked third in the annual NWC Coaches' Poll on Nov. 4, collecting 49 points. PLU was picked behind heavyweights Linfield University and Whitworth University.

The Lutes will face some tough competition during the non-conference schedule and hope those tough tests will help them get ready for the NWC slate. Tip-off on Tuesday night is slated for 7:00pm inside Olson Gymnasium.