BOX SCORE

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Lewis & Clark men's basketball team picked up its fifth consecutive Northwest Conference win on Saturday night, defeating the Willamette Bearcats 68-50 in the Pamplin Sports Center. Kurt Parker paced the way with a game-high 18 points. 

The win moves the Pioneers to 12-3 on the season and 5-1 in the NWC, where they are currently in a three-way tie for first place. The Bearcats fall to 3-12 overall and 1-5 in NWC play. 

Parker hit 4-of-6 from the free-throw line, while finishing 4-of-8 from three-point range. The sophomore also collected five rebounds, four assists and two steals off the bench for L&C. Sophomore Jason Luhnow was the Pioneers next leading scorer with 14 points, Connor Freeberg scored seven, while Quentin Sims, Serg Ovchinnikov and Randall Jackson each knocked down six. Justin Leathers led all players with 10 rebounds. 

Alex Brown led the Bearcats with 15 points and Avery Mau scored 10. 

It took nearly a minute for either team to score with Luhnow hitting the first basket of the game with a three-pointer at the 19:07 mark. Willamette promptly responded with a free-throw by Mau, but then it would take a little over three minutes before either side would score again. 

Lewis & Clark then settled down to rattle off 12 points over a seven minute span to take a 15-4 advantage with 8:01 left on the clock. The Pioneers went on to close the half with a 26-13 lead. 

The Bearcats opened the second half strong, going on an 11-4 run to make it a 31-24 contest with 15:50 left to go. The Pioneers responded with a 15-0 run over the next three minutes that made it 46-24. Lewis & Clark would keep Willamette at a comfortable distance the rest of the way, only letting them as close as 17 points. 

The Pioneers travel to Walla Walla for their next contest, taking on the Whitman Missionaries at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24.