SALEM, Ore. — The Pacific Lutheran University men's basketball team had another one possession ballgame late in the second half on Friday night but ultimately couldn't pull out the win, falling 81-76 to host Willamette University in a Northwest Conference showdown inside the Cone Field House. 

"It's really tough to beat anyone when you have 21 turnovers and give up 15 offensive rebounds, let a lone a good team like Willamette. I thought we played with great effort for most of the game but in the second half we came out flat offensively which really put a lot of pressure on our defense," said Head Coach Chad Murray.

"We lost a few shooters and couldn't keep No. 2 corralled as well as we did in the first half. It's hard to get into any type of flow offensively when you turn it over as much as we did tonight. And I thought we did fine with their full court pressure, most of those 21 were in half court dur to poor decision making and bad execution. Our overall inconsistency in a lot of areas is causing us to really struggle. We were here last year at 1-3 and that ended up pretty well so hopefully we can turn this thing around beginning next week."

The Lutes (7-6, 1-3, NWC) opened the game with a three from Ben Tellez and led until the host Bearcats (8-5, 3-1 NWC) took the lead at 17-15 eight minutes into the game. PLU would battle back, reclaiming the lead and enjoying a 34-31 edge at the halftime intermission thanks to a Mack Hepper layup at the buzzer. PLU's lead slipped away early in the second half as the host Bearcats did just enough down the stretch to secure the win in a game the Lutes trailed by just a possession until the final moments of the second half. 

Henry Smith led the Lutes, coming off the bench and scoring 17 and hauling in seven rebounds. Charlie Kapranos added 16 with Ben Tellez and Jeremiah Sibley adding 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The Lutes host Pacific University next Friday inside Olson Gymnasium wth tipoff set for 7:30 p.m.