PORTLAND, Ore. – The Lewis & Clark men's basketball team kept its Northwest Conference playoff hopes alive by coming back from a first-half deficit to defeat Pacific Lutheran 63-53.
Ross Erickson had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds, and also had five assists.
PJ Taylor added 16 points, and
Marcus Wells put in 11 points. The Pioneers shot 47.9% from the field as a team.
On PLU's side James Conti led with 14 points and four assists, and Andrew Earnest, Kai Hoyt, and Cameron Reister all added nine points.
Reister opened up the shooting with a three just 25 seconds into the first half, and followed it up with a second one less than a minute later to give the Lutes an early 6-2 lead. Erickson and Taylor each scored for the Pioneers, but Pacific Lutheran went ahead 13-6 at the 16:14 mark.
The Lutes continued to hold the lead throughout the first half. A three-pointer from
Donato Perconti brought the Pios within one point, but that was as close as L&C got. Hoyt scored two layups to extend the lead 24-19 at the six-minute mark, but Wells,
Dexter Pearce, and
Bradley Carter each scored and the teams went into the halftime with Pacific Lutheran ahead just 28-27.
Hoyt opened up the half with a layup for the Lutes, but the Pioneers stayed close, and a Wells jumper and three-point shot gave Lewis & Clark its first lead of the game of 35-32 at the 13:25 mark, and they never lost it.
The Pios slowly increased their lead, and a dunk by Erickson at 10:23 gave them the momentum they needed. Pearce claimed a couple free throws, and
James Hollins put down a three and two more free throws to increase the lead 48-40 with 7:55 to go.
A couple of baskets by the Lutes brought them within six, but L&C stayed in control to hold on with scoring across the board. A three-pointer by Zachary Klein brought the score to 61-53 with just over two minutes to go, but no one scored again until Hollins made a pair of free throws to end the game at 63-53.
Lewis & Clark will next meet Puget Sound at 8 p.m. on Friday, February 17 for the final regular season home game.
