TACOMA, Wash. --- The Pacific Lutheran Men's Basketball team completed the weekend series against a pair Southern California schools on Saturday night, dropping the weekend finale, 81-71 to Chapman University.
 
Both teams got out to a slow start shooting the rock as well as getting into foul trouble, with the Panthers leading 5-4 at the first media timeout. Ben Tellez later executed on an and-one opportunity, but Chapman went 1-2 from the free throw line to make it an 8-8 ballgame entering the 12-minute media time out in the first half.
 
The Panthers began to heat up from beyond the arc while also sinking their free throws to go on a 7-2 run. Miles Nash and Dom Perasso helped the Lutes crawl back into a one-point deficit, prior to an 8-0 run for Chapman. The Lutes struggled to get shots to fall towards the end of the first half, while Chapman held a double-digit lead heading into halftime after sinking a jumper in the closing seconds of the half; the Panthers led 37-27 after 20-minutes. Both teams combined for a whopping 27 fouls in the first half, as each spent the final five-plus minutes shooting in the double-bonus.
 
Nash and Hepper led the Lutes in a run that cut the deficit to just six at the first media timeout of the second half. That was as close as the Lutes would get to Chapman until 10:44 remained in the game, thanks to a three from Henry Smith. Following the three from Smith, Chapman cashed in on consecutive threes and an and-one opportunity to gather a 10-point lead with five remaining.
 
Chapman took to the paint over the next three-minutes, scoring on five-straight possessions with a pair of offensive boards. The Panthers found their largest lead of 16 with 131-seconds remaining in the game, but a 6-0 run was too-little, too-late for the Lutes, dropping the final game of the weekend, 81-71.
 
For the second consecutive game, Miles Nash led the scoring with 17 points, and added six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Mack Hepper followed close with 16 points while shooting 2-3 from beyond the arc. Senior Brandin Riedel grabbed a team-high seven boards and dished out four assists. The Lutes shot nearly 49% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc. The woes continued from the charity stripe, shooting just 66.7%. Chapman excelled in second-chance points, out scoring the Lutes off of offensive rebounds, 12-2.
 
"Tough weekend for the Lutes. We played some really high-end teams from down south. I didn't like the way we came out tonight in terms of dealing with their pressure and physicality. We have a lot to learn about how to handle that aspect of the game because we will see that later on in the season. The guys competed and kept it tight in the second half but ultimately we made too many mistakes to really give Chapman a scare. We'll re-group and continue to improve." Said Head Coach Chad Murray following Saturday's contest.
 
The Lutes will enjoy a week off before returning to Olson Gymnasium on Monday, November 25^th, as they host Hamilton at 8 p.m.
 
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