TACOMA, Wash. — The Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team scorched the nets from beyond the arc on Friday night, hitting 17 treys in an 81-67 non-conference victory over University of Dallas inside Olson Gymnasium. 

The Lutes (2-2) were staring at a nine point deficit late in the first half but got a layup from Jamie McGrail and a three from Ben Tellez with four seconds left to knife the deficit to just 39-35 at the intermission. PLU wasn't finished at the half, starting the second half on a 19-6 run to build its own nine-point buffer on a three by Ben Tellez with 14:51 remaining in the game. That was Tellez's third triple of the second half that saw the Lutes bang in five in the first five minutes. 

A Crusader three cut the lead to just four with 13:45 remaining but treys from Henry Smith and Dom Perasso along with a Mack Hepper bucket, stretched PLU's lead to a dozen. That lead would swell to as many as 19 en route to the 14-point victory.

"I was really pleased with how the guys responded to the challenges we placed on them at halftime. We needed to value the ball better, we needed to rebound better, and we needed to stand up to their physicality by getting to the free throw line and securing some more offensive rebounds. We were able to accomplish all of those things while maintaining a really nice overall field goal and three-point percentage," said Head Coach Chad Murray.

PLU came out of the gate swinging, building an 18-6 edge on a Smith layup with 12:31 left but Dallas kicked things into gear, tying the game at 22. The Crusaders kept the foot on the gas, stretching the lead to nine on a pair of free throws from Thomas Fleming with 1:34 left before halftime. 

Tellez led the Lutes with 21 points, going five-for-10 from three point range. Perasso had four treys and 16 points while Smith had 13 points and four assists. Charlie Kapranos filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

PLU shot 50 percent from beyond the arc, finishing the night 17-for-34, including 10-for-19 over the final 20 minutes of action. PLU held a 36-31 rebounding edge and limited the visitors to shooting just 27.3 percent (six-for-22) from distance. PLU's bench outperformed Dallas 26-12 and the Lutes enjoyed a 12-5 edge in second chance points. 

"Ben and Dom shot the ball incredibly well but Caleb Berry did a fantastic job in his minutes of running our team. He didn't have the stats that would jump out at you but we were really affective as a group when he was out there and he had a lot to do with that."
 
"We gotta reload quickly as Nebraska Wesleyan will be a great challenge and opportunity for us to build on tonight."

The Lutes close out the homestand tomorrow night, welcoming Nebraska Wesleyan University to Olson Gymnaisum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.