TACOMA, Wash. — A 25-point deficit melted to just a single possession thanks to a Henry Smith trey with 4.3 seconds left but the Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team ran out of time, falling 66-61 to crosstown rival University of Puget Sound on Tuesday night inside Olson Gymnasium.
 
"We dug ourselves into way too big of a hole due to our really poor first half. When you get down big like that you have to play perfectly to pull off the comeback and while we played much better in terms of intensity in the second half, we certainly weren't perfect," said Head Coach Chad Murray.

"That's a tough standard to meet and it's not what we're asking from them. What we are asking is for five guys to fight for each other and stay connected on both ends. We only managed to do that for 20 minutes and that's not good enough and we got what we deserved. As always, we will take some positives from this and continue to move forward."

The two teams played to a 12-12 deadlock through the opening five minutes of play but the Loggers (8-5, 3-0 NWC) would drop 32 of the next 42 points, taking a 44-22 into the locker room at halftime.
 
Puget Sound's lead would balloon to 25 on a jumper with 16:19 remaining in the game. Homestanding Pacific Lutheran (7-5, 1-2 NWC) would the Loggers to just 16 points the rest of the way, closing to within three with seconds to go thanks to a wild 36-14 run.

Charlie Kapranos got the comeback gong with a pair of buckets with 15 minutes to go. Another Kapranos bucket narrowed the gap to 10 with 3:48 remaining and dipped to single digits with 2:11 left on another Kapranos layup.
 
Jeremiah Sibley hit a three with 21 ticks left to pull within six before Mack Hepper free throws made the gap four. Puget Sound answered with free throws of their own before the Smith three made it 64-61 with 4.3 left. That would be the last time the Lutes got a chance with Puget Sound hitting two free throws in the final second to hold on to the win.

Kapranos had his fifth double-double of the season, leading the team in points (19), rebounds (11), and assists (four). Ben Tellez added 12 points with Caleb Berry contributing eight.

PLU outshot the Loggers (43.8 percent to 40.7 percent) in a tale of two halves. Puget Sound hit 51.7 percent of its shots (15-for-29) in the first half but shot just 28 percent (seven-for-25) over the final 20 minutes. Meanwhile the Lutes made just 26.1 percent (six-for-23) of its chances in the first half but hit a blazing 60 percent (15-for-25) in the second half.
 
The Lutes return to the hardwood on Friday night with showdown against Willamette University. Tipoff in Salem, Oregon is set for 7:30 p.m.