TACOMA, Wash. --- The Pacific Lutheran Men's Basketball team (12-11, 9-5 NWC) defeated the Willamette Bearcats (9-13, 3-11 NWC) inside Olson Gymnasium, while celebrating five senior Lutes on senior day.
 
Prior to the game, PLU honored seniors Jason Montes, Emmett Holt, Liam Johnston, Drew Kraft, and Brandin Riedel for their hard work and contributions to the Men's Basketball program. These five Lutes played their final game inside Olson Gymnasium on Saturday. They were also Chad Murray's starting-five on Saturday.
 
After nearly a two-minute scoring drought to begin the game for both teams, senior Liam Johnston cashed in the first basket of the game, sinking a pull-up jumper from the elbow. Willamette answered and later took a 5-4 lead, followed by Emmett Holt's first three since his 33-point performance inside Olson on Tuesday.
 
The two squads were tied a pair of times up until 11-11, where Miles Nash went on to execute on an and-one to give the Lutes the lead yet again. Nash's bucket sparked a 15-4 run to give the Lutes some breathing room as they approached 10-minutes remaining in the half. PLU maintained a 10+ point lead for the majority of the end of the half, but a 5-5 run for Willamette over the final 4:11 made it a 38-31 game at the half.
 
Both offenses picked up the pace out of the break, as Willamette's press forced a pair of Lutes turnovers and fast-break buckets. The Bearcats cut the deficit to as little as 48-44, but the Lutes ability to gather offensive rebounds led to threes by Ben Tellez and Henry Smith to cap off an 11-0 run for the Lutes; forcing a timeout out of Willamette.
 
Montes executed an and-one opportunity with seven-minutes remaining in the game, leading to a deep three from Dom Perasso to put the Lutes up 67-52. Although Willamette found holes in the Lutes defense down low at times, Holt and Montes continued to answer back, extending the Lutes lead to as large as 20 over the course of a 10-2 spanning 150-seconds.
 
Up big late in the game, Head Coach Chad Murray looked to seniors Drew Kraft and Liam Johnston to close out the game for their final minutes on Names Family Court in Olson Gymnasium. Kraft notched a trio of points while Johnston threw down a late slam to put an exclamation point on a dominant 84-69 win on senior day.
 
"Tonight was all about Brandin, Drew, Liam, Jason and Emmett. All of them had moments in the game where they shined and helped us win. I love all of these guys as they live our team's core values in a variety of different ways. I can't say thank you enough to all of them for modeling what it takes every day from a physical and mental standpoint. Our freshman have been blessed to be mentored by them all and shown exactly what it takes to be a part of our program." Said Head Coach Chad Murray following the win.
 
"Emmett had an incredible week. Tonight, it just seemed like every time we needed a bucket he was able to stabilize us by providing one. Again, I thought the entire group contributed to this win and what I hope was a memorable experience for our 5 seniors."
 
Holt paced the Lutes scoring, notching 23-points, six rebounds, and two assists in his 28-minutes. The senior put up a total of 66 points in a two-game stretch this week, helping the Lutes to two big wins. 12-different Lutes scored in the contest, while shooting an impressive 50.8% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc.
 
PLU Men's Basketball maintains a one-game cushion on second-place in the Northwest Conference standings, and a two-game lead on Puget Sound and George Fox who sit on the outside looking-in on the top-four.
 
The Lutes close out the season with a road trip to Oregon, facing Pacific and Lewis & Clark next Friday and Saturday with hopes of securing a top-four conference finish and a seed in the Northwest Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
 
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