Box Score CLAREMONT, CALIF. --- The Pacific Lutheran Men's Basketball team wrapped up the 2023 portion of the season with a road loss against the Stags of Claremont-Mudd-Scripts in Claremont, California on Saturday.
 
Ashton Rico got the scoring started for the Lutes, opening the game with a three to follow up a Stags lay-up. With the Stags continuing to attack the paint, the Lutes found their stride with the deep ball, as Mack Hepper made it a 6-4 game in favor of the Lutes in the first two minutes. Miles Nash then came alive, scoring the next 5 points for the Lutes. Brandin Riedel came alive with consecutive buckets down low to make it a 19-15 ballgame with 11:11 left in the first. Coming off the bench, Jackson Reisner gave the Lutes their largest lead of the game following his three-pointer; 22-17 Lutes. The Stags would go on a 16-4 run over the course of the next six minutes to take a seven-point lead. Three late free throws for the Stags would end the half with CMS on top, 38-32.
 
A pair of early buckets in the final half would give the Stags a lead they would not surrender for the remainder of the game and forced a Lutes timeout in under the first four minutes. The Lutes went on a six-minute field goal drought that resulted in a 17-5 run in favor of CMS, putting them ahead 55-39 with under 13 minutes left in the game. The strong shooting for the Stags wouldn't stop there, pushing their lead to over 20 points with 10 minutes remaining.
 
Liam Johnston stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer to break up the Stags scoring run. With another stretch of a three-minute field goal drought, the Stags would control the pace of the remainder of the game. The Lutes offensive struggles resulted in a 87-62 road loss.
 
The Lutes shot 42% from the field and 32% from beyond the arc, but the difference came in the offensive success for the Stags who shot 56% from the field and another 56% from three. Both squads took care of the rock with just eight total turnovers each. The Stags out-rebounded the Lutes by a margin of 34-23.
 
Miles Nash lead the way individually with 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists on 50% shooting from the field and 66% from beyond the arc. 12 Lutes saw action on Saturday, with 16 points coming off the bench, six of which coming from Jason Montes.
 
The Lutes look ahead to 2024 where their first test comes against George Fox next Friday inside Olson Gymnasium at 8 p.m.
 
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