BOX SCORE

TACOMA, Wash. - The Lewis & Clark men's basketball team put together a strong second half on Saturday night, taking down the Puget Sound Longgers 73-64 in Northwest Conference action.

The Pioneers improve to 14-3 on the season and 7-1 in conference action. The Pios have now won eight games in a row and are standing strong in second place in the NWC, sitting just one game out of first place. The Loggers fall to 6-11 overall and 3-5 in conference.

Senior Kelly Edwards scored a game-high 22 points for the Pioneers, finishing 6-11 from the floor and 8-9 from the free-throw line. Edwards also finished with a team-high nine rebounds. Junior guard PJ Taylor also put together a solid night for the Pios, finishing with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and a game-high two steals.

Kaleb Shelton ended with 16 points for the Loggers, while Ryan Rogers chipped in 12 and Edric Egberuare 11. Anthony Gittens pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds for the Loggers.

After going into the locker room tied at 29-29, the Pios and Loggers battled through three ties and three lead changes in the second half. The Pios made a late run to pull away and eventually come away with the victory. A three-pointer from Quentin Sims with 9:45 remaining in the game proved to be the game changer, handing the Pioneers the lead for good. The Pios biggest lead of the game came with 31 seconds remaining in the game with back-to-back made free-throws by Edwards, putting the Pios on top 69-56.

The Pioneers return to the court on Jan. 28 at 8 p.m. when they take on the Whitman Missionaries on the road.