TACOMA, Wash. — Ben Tellez dropped a career-high 19 points for Pacific Lutheran University but it was Hamilton College that stole the limelight on Monday night, drilling a go-ahead layup with 1.1 seconds left to earn the 60-58 victory in a non-conference men's basketball showdown inside Olson Gymnasium.
 
The game was tied at 58 as the Continentals' Jalen Reese inbounded to Hank Morgan who drilled a layup with 1.1 seconds remaining to put the visitors up two. The Lutes (1-3) attempted to go coast-to-coast but the buzzer sounded before Miles Nash was able to hoist a winning three-pointer.

"That was a knock down, drag out fight tonight," said Head Coach Chad Murray.

"We're really pleased with our response when we went down eight with about five minutes to go. We got a couple of timely three's by Ben and Henry that came after a couple of tough stops to give us some life. And then it just came down to some free throws and execution on both ends. They unfortunately executed that last play really well and it cost us."
 
Monday's game featured five lead changes and nine ties. Hamilton (4-1) scored seven straight points to build a game-high eight point advantage with 5:25 left in the game. PLU quickly negated that lead, tying the game just over two minutes later after getting a pair of threes from Tellez and another from Henry Smith.

Neither team would lead by more than two points the rest of the way. A Nash free throw with 45 ticks left tied the game at 56 only to see the Continentals push ahead on a layup with 20 seconds remaining. Julian Brown made it 58 all with 5.6 seconds left before Hamilton tallied the winning bucket on the inbounds play with 1.1 ticks to go.
 
The Lutes seized an early lead scoring the game's opening six points and eight of the first 10. The Continentals hung around, tying the game with 7:48 left in the first half on a four-point play— sinking a three and drawing the foul. Hamilton would take its first lead of the night on another three with 6:18 left in the half. PLU tied the game but another Continental three, this one with 63 seconds left, gave the visitors a 28-25 halftime advantage.
 
Neither team led by more than four points in the opening 14 minutes of the second half before Hamilton's 7-0 run.  
 
Tellez had just 12 points in the opening three games of the season before poured on a career-best 19 points, shooting six-of-10 from the field and three-for-four from beyond the arc. Dom Perasso added 10 points and seven rebounds while Julian Brown had seven points. Nash had a team-best five assists while Brandin Riedel had eight rebounds and three steals. 

"Ben was fun to watch tonight. He's a smart player and when he wasn't hitting threes he was competing really well defensively. We shot ourselves in the foot a bit throughout the game by not rebounding and missing some free throws that need to go down if you're going to beat a great team like Hamilton."
 
Hamilton outrebounded PLU 45-31 and held a 13-3 advantage in second chance points. The Lutes outshot the visitors, shooting at a 36.8 percent (21-for-57) clip while holding Hamilton to shooting just 31.8 percent (21-for-66), including just 17.9 percent (five-for-28) from beyond the arc. 
 
PLU takes the rest of the week off for the Thanksgiving holiday and closes out its season opening homestand on Saturday, Dec. 7, welcoming Douglas College to Olson Gymnasium.