TACOMA, Wash. — The Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team hit the century mark for the first time since the season opener on Friday night, pulling away in the second half in a 102-86 victory over Willamette University in a Northwest Conference game inside Olson Gymnasium. 
 
Sean McCurdy stole the show in the Lutes' win, dropping a career-high 30 points while grabbing 10 boards for his fourth double-double of the year and his third during conference play.
 
Willamette (5-8, 1-4 NWC) led by one with under 17 to go in the second half before the Lutes (7-7, 1-4 NWC) mounted a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead with six of those points coming off the hands of Brandin Riedel. A Jackson Reisner three pushed the lead into double digits with 6:58 remaining and continued to swell from there. Sam Noland put an exclamation point on the game, draining a three at the buzzer to put the Lutes over the century mark.
 
"We challenged the guys at half time to clean up the mental mistakes and for the most part we did that after the break. I was really happy to see Sean break out of a bit of an offensive funk tonight as he was able to get to baskets in transition and within our half-court offense," said Head Coach Chad Murray. 
 
PLU scored the opening six points and 13 of the first 16 but Willamette wouldn't fade away so easy with the visiting Bearcats taking a 23-22 lead midway through the first half. Mack Hepper drained a three with 8:40 remaining in the first half, pushing Pacific Lutheran back on top 28-25. PLU's lead hit 13 with 5:35 left in the opening stanza but the Bearcats crawled back into the game, hitting a three with 11 ticks left to reduce the Lute lead to just 49-46 at the break.
 
"We shared the ball really well tonight and that contributed to a great night shooting the ball from both two- and three-point range. I was also really happy with our initial energy burst in the beginning of the game that set the tone for how we wanted to play."
 
McCurdy headlined the day, sinking 13 of his 21 shots for a career-high 30 points while also adding 10 boards in 35 minutes of action. Riedel hit six of his eight shots to score 17 while Sam Noland added 14 and Reisner chipped in 11. Shane McGaughey-Fick was the distributor, closing the game with 11 assists along with three steals. 
 
PLU shot at a 60.9 percent clip (39-for-64) for the game and enjoyed a 56-46 edge in points in the paint. 
 
Friday was the first time the Lutes have eclipsed the 100-point mark since dropping an even 100 on The Evergreen State College in a season-opening 100-67 blowout back on Nov. 8. The scoring binge was PLU's first game over 100 in league play since hanging 102 on Willamette last season back on Feb. 4 in Salem, Oregon and is the first home game over 100 since piling on 109 against Northwest Indian College during the 2019-2020 campaign.
 
Pacific Lutheran returns to action tomorrow evening, welcoming Lewis & Clark College to Olson Gymnasium. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.