TACOMA, Wash. — An early lead wasn't enough to sustain the Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team on Friday night, suffering an 88-83 setback to Northwest Conference rival George Fox University inside Olson Gymnasium.

The Lutes (8-4, 1-2 NWC) charged out of the gate, scoring the opening six points and 14 of the game's opening 18 points. PLU's advantage swelled to 11 on a Sam Noland layup with 13:52 left in the opening half but the Bruins (10-2, 3-0 NWC) wouldn't make it easy, mounting a 13-2 run to tie the game with 9:21 left before halftime. It would remain a one possession game until a Jackson Reisner three with five minutes left put the Lutes up six as the home side took a 38-33 edge into the locker room at halftime.  
 
The Bruins took their first lead of the night just over four minutes into the second half, pushing ahead 44-43 on a Momo Stokes trey. From there it was 12 lead changes and eight ties. Pacific Lutheran led by one with 3:22 remaining courtesy of a pair of Jason Montes free throws but the Bruins answered with a three-pointer to stake a two-point edge. GFU would lead the rest of the way, hitting free throws down the stretch to emerge with the five-point road win. 

"I thought we started off great and had tremendous energy to come out and establish what we wanted to do. Unfortunately we couldn't sustain it for the full 40 minutes," said Head Coach Chad Murray.

"Our defense broke down several times which put us in a position where our offense had to be virtually perfect to keep up. We ended up turning it over a few too many times and having some shots fall off the mark which allowed for them to separate just enough. Really disappointed that we couldn't pull that one out. We got some great performances and did a lot of great things so losing this one stings."

Five Lutes finished in double figures with Montes headlining the night with 18 points. Miles Nash added 16 along with a team-best nine rebounds with Brandin Riedel chipping in 15 points. Sam Noland dropped 14 points while Jackson Reisner had 11 off the bench. 

PLU crushed the Bruins on the glass, enjoying a 41-27 rebounding advantage but was unable to keep pace with George Fox who scorched the nets in the second half— shooting 67.9 percent (19-for-28) over the final 20 minutes and ending the night shooting an even 50 percent (31-for-62) from the field. 

Friday's defeat was the Lutes first home setback in almost a year, having won seven straight inside Olson Gymnasium dating back to Feb. 4 of last season. 
 
PLU continues its homestand tomorrow evening, welcoming Willamette University to Olson Gymnasium with tipoff slated for 6 p.m.