TACOMA, Wash. — The Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team flexed its depth on its international visitors on Saturday evening. A dozen Lutes scored buckets, including four in double figures, dismantling Canada's Douglas College 84-60 inside Olson Gymnasium.
 
The Canadian visitors took an early lead, scoring eight of the opening 10 points just under four minutes into the game and forcing a Lute timeout. The reset proved timely for the Lutes (2-3) who mounted a 12-0 run, getting threes from Henry Smith, Emmett Holt, and Jason Montes. Smith ignited the run, burying a trey with 15:52 in the first half while Holt's three put the Lutes in the lead for good with 14:45 remaining in the opening stanza.
 
Ben Tellez drilled a three with 6:58 remaining, opening up PLU's first double digit lead of the evening. The PLU advantage swelled to as many as 15 points in the first half, taking a 41-29 lead into the break.
 
The Royals surged out of the locker room in the second half, knifing the Lute advantage to just seven points after scoring the first six points of the half. A Dom Perasso bucket followed by a Henry Smith three with 18:17 remaining reinstalled PLU's double digit buffer, part of a larger 16-4 Lute run to put Douglas at arm's length. The host Lutes would enjoy a double digit buffer the rest of the way, leading by as many as 30 points and closing out the season-opening five game homestand with the 24-point victory.

"We left a lot on the table with this one," said Head Coach Chad Murray.

"I loved seeing Caleb Berry get out there to do his thing. I thought Emmett was able to break out a bit also. We didn't shoot the 3 particularly well but got some good looks. Felt like we rushed a bit and didn't play our best defensively and organizationally on offense. This group is still learning each other and what it's going to take to compete in our league but it was great to have an opportunity to extend our bench a bit and get a look at some guys."
 
It was a total team effort on Saturday with the absence of leading scorer Miles Nash. 12 different Lutes scored a bucket on the night, including four finishing in double figures. Brandin Riedel was six-for-seven from the floor with 13 points— eclipsing 1,000 points for his career— while Holt matched Riedel's production, coming off the bench and scoring 13. Dom Perasso had 12 points and nine boards while Jason Montes scored 10, hauling in seven boards, and dished out five assists.
 
PLU crushed Douglas on the glass, outrebounding the Royals 52-21. That includes 22 offensive rebounds on the night. PLU shot 44.4 percent (32-for-72) from the field, including a 50 percent clip (17-for-34) in the final 20 minutes of play.
 
The Lutes are back on the hardwood next Saturday, hitting the road for the first time this season with a 4 p.m. showdown against Portland Bible College.