TACOMA, Wash. – After blowing out the No. 7 team in the nation last night, the Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team took Whitworth University's best shot in the first half tonight and picked itself up off the mat. The home team erased a 15-point halftime lead and led briefly by one point in the second half before stumbling in a 68-64 defeat.
Whitworth (7-4, 5-1 NWC) blitzed the Lutes in the first 20 minutes of action in Olson Gymnasium tonight and took a 38-23 into the locker room. A strong effort from the Pirates led to nine offensive rebounds and forced the Lutes into nine turnovers.
PLU (5-1, 5-1 NWC) collected itself at halftime and proceeded to continually chip away at the large lead. Four quick points in the second half by senior point guard set the tone that the home, upstart squad wouldn't back down from the perennial power.
The Lutes kept hanging around until a 10-0 run capped by a layup by
Seth Hall with 4:57 remaining, put PLU within one point at 57-56. After Jake Holtz responded with a bucket for the visitors,
Sam Noland scored the next four point to give the Lutes a 60-59 advantage with 3:17 remaining and its first lead since it was 6-5 in the game's fifth minute.
Senior Rowan Anderson made a jump shot on the ensuing possession to put the Pirates back on top and drilled one from deep to stretch their lead to four, 64-60, with 2:22 to go.
Jordan Thomas and the Lutes kept battling though, as he scored a layup 10 seconds later and
Ethan Smith added a pair of freebies to knot the score at 64 with 1:52 left.
Four straight empty possessions by the two clubs ended when Whitworth's Miguel Lopez laid the ball in with 33 seconds remaining. On PLU's final possession, the Lutes ran the clock down before Hall got the ball on the low block, but was stripped on his shot attempt and the Pirates grabbed the loose ball and escaped with the win.
Hall led the way for PLU with 18 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, while Thomas added 10 points, six assists and five boards. Smith also reached double figures with 11 points. The Lutes shot a blistering 53.8 percent from the field in the second half, including 5-for-9 from three-point range.
The two teams continue to be tied atop the Northwest Conference standings at 5-1 and will meet two more times in Spokane on March 13 and 14. Next weekend, the Lutes will host arch rival University of Puget Sound on Friday and Saturday.
