SPOKANE, Wash. – The Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team led in the early going, but Whitworth University took control of the game in the second half to beat the Lutes 64-48 in Northwest Conference action. 

"We are at a point right now in our evolution where we are being challenged to respond to big moments in big games," said PLU Head Coach Chad Murray.  "In order to answer these we need to show more consistency in terms of blocking out, finishing offensively, cutting hard, making crisp passes, while also defensively for 40 minutes.  This is where we are, and I'm loving it.  There are worse problems to have.  We will come out tomorrow and give it everything we have to try to split the season series with them."
 
The Pirates held a 30-26 at the end for the first 20 minutes and slowly built their advantage to 10, 45-35 with 12:11 remaining in the game.  The lead grew to 15 with four minutes remaining and swelled to as many as 17 in the final minute.  The Lutes were held to just 30 percent shooting in the second half and missed all nine three-pointers. 
 
PLU (7-2, 7-2 NWC) opened the game on a 15-2 run over the first nine minutes of action.  The Lute defense was locked in from the start, holding the Pirates without a field goal until the 10:47 mark of the first half.  Whitworth missed its first 10 shots from the field, before hitting their stride. 

"I loved our intensity on the defensive end for the first eight minutes, but obviously couldn't sustain that for the half," said Murray.  "I thought we really tightened up on teh offensive end because of their physicality and response to the way we came out."
 
The Pirates retaliated with a 16-0 run over the 5:43 to climb all the way back in front 20-17.  Seth Hall finally snapped the scoreless streak when he knotted the game a 20 with a three-pointer.  Whitworth closed the half strong and took a 30-26 leading into the locker room. 
 
The Pirates ended up shooting 45 percent from the field in the first frame, while holding the Lutes to 32 percent.  Both teams coughed up the ball frequently, with Whitworth committing nine turnovers and PLU losing it eight. 
 
Seth Hall and Jordan Thomas led the way offensively for PLU with 10 points each.  Sean McCurdy provided some nice minutes off the bench, scoring nine points and grabbing four rebounds.  Thomas produced a game-high 12 rebounds and the Lutes were unable to take advantage of retrieving 16 offensive rebounds. 
 
Whitworth (11-5, 8-3 NWC) now leads the season series between the two teams 2-1.  The two squads will meet again for a rare Sunday matinee tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.