TACOMA, Wash. — A Dominant second half turned a nailbiter into a blowout on Tuesday night inside Olson Gymnasium as the Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team imposed its will on crosstown nemesis University of Puget Sound in a 83-69 victory to sweep the season series.
Emmett Holt was on fire in the second half, scoring 23 of his career-high 33 points in the final 20 minutes of play to cement the win as the Lutes (11-11, 8-5 NWC) have been victorious in 10 of the last 12 meetings between the two Tacoma schools.
"It was a great team win for us tonight. I thought we defended really well for the entire game and then just need to find some opportunities to establish ourselves offensively," said Head Coach
Chad Murray.
"We did that through Jason right off the bat and then Emmett was incredible again. What I love about our group is that it doesn't have to be one guy every night. Miles had it going on Saturday and then tonight Emmett did. In addition, Brandin was saddled with foul trouble and Charlie came in and dished out eight assists and really did a nice job trying to slow down Rutherford. It's a team game and this is played out exactly how we wanted it to."
PLU led by just two points with 16:46 remaining in the game before getting eight straight points, including back-to-back treys from
Henry Smith and Holt to open up a double digit advantage. The Loggers (11-11, 6-7 NWC) briefly reduced the gap to eight but the Lutes quickly reestablished a double digit buffer, leading by as many as 20 en route to the 14-point victory.
The Lutes scored the final four points of the opening half, enjoying a 34-31 lead at the break after a back and forth opening 20 minutes that featured 11 lead changes and five ties.
It was the
Jason Montes show in the game's opening minutes, scoring seven of PLU's first nine points. A Logger trey made it a four-point game with 11:31 left in the period before the Lutes rattled off the next 10 points, seizing a 21-15 lead on a Holt jumper. That lead evaporated with Puget Sound scoring 10 of the next 12 to install a slim two point edge with 4:27 to play. The game would remain a one possession game the rest of the half with a Holt jumper at the buzzer making it a three-point gap in favor of the Lutes.
Holt finished the night 13-for-17 from the floor and four-for-six from beyond the arc, tallying his career-best 33 points on the strength of a huge second half performance. Montes dropped 17 points, going six-for-nine from the field while
Miles Nash added nine points off the bench.
Ben Tellez and
Brandin Riedel led the team on the glass with five rebounds while
Charlie Kapranos was the main distributor, finishing with eight assists.
PLU shot 47.5 percent (28-for-59) from the floor, including a blustering 41.2 percent (seven-for-17) from beyond the arc in the second half.
"We're excited to celebrate our seniors on Saturday night!"
The Lutes close out their home slate and honor the 2025 senior class on Saturday against NWC rival Willamette University. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m. inside Olson Gymnasium.
