The second place Pioneer men dropped to the first place Puget Sound Loggers 74-60 on Friday night, January 30, at Pamplin Sports Center (boxscore). Entering the contest, the Loggers held a perfect 8-0 conference record and the Pioneers were just two games behind at 6-2 in NWC.

In the first 20 minute period, the two teams exchanged leads several times. The Loggers took the first lead of the game, but mid-way through the half, the Pioneers took over, keeping that lead until the final minute of the period. With just five seconds to go in the half, the Loggers tied it back up at 33-33. Led by the impressive shooting of guard James Hollins with 11 points, six of which came from beyond the arc, the Pioneers shot 37.8% from the floor to the Loggers' 36.1% from the floor. The two teams entered halftime tied at 33-33.

The second half favored the Loggers, despite the Pioneers' lead for the first 10 minutes of the half. With 10:44 left in the game, the Loggers took back the lead, kicking off an 11-1 run over the next three minutes. With four minutes remaining in the half, the Loggers held a seven point lead at 63-56 as the Pioneers continued to attack on both ends of the floor. With 2:39 left in the game the Loggers extended their lead to 10 points on a break-away lay-up, and would not allow the Pioneers to come closer than 10 for the final two minutes. The Pioneers finished the game at 74-60.

The Pioneers were led by David Berggren (sr., Tualatin, Ore.) with 16 points and nine rebounds. James Hollins (fr., Tucson, Ariz.) added 15 points, 11 of which were scored in the first half to lead the Pioneers.

With the loss the Pioneers are now tied for second place in NWC with the Whitworth Pirates at 6-3 in conference and 12-6 overall. The will host the Pacific Lutheran Lutes on Saturday, January 31 to round out their five game streak of home games. Tip off is at 8 pm.