BOX SCORE

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Lewis & Clark men's basketball team put up a strong fight against the visiting Puget Sound Loggers on Saturday night, but were unable to pull out the victory falling 60-56 in Northwest Conference action.  

Lewis & Clark falls to 12-7 on the season and 5-5 in the NWC. Puget Sound moves to 11-8 overall and 7-3 in conference. With the loss the Pioneers find themselves one game behind George Fox for the final NWC play-off spot. 

Kurt Parker came off the bench to score a team-high 12 points for the Pioneers, while Connor Freeberg knocked down 11 for L&C. Bradley Carter led the team with eight rebounds, whle Quentin Sims pulled down seven. 

Dan Cheledinas ended the game with a double-double for the Loggers, scoring 12 points and collecting 11 rebounds. Rex Nelson led all players with 15 points, whle AJ Maw scored 12 and Nick Holden 11. 

The contest started as a tightly contested back and forth with the Loggers taking a slim 28-27 advantage into the half. Throughout the course of the game there were 12 lead changes, while the game was knotted up five times.

The Pioneers largest lead of the first half was just three points after a Jason Luhnow layup made it a 10-7 contest. The Loggers fought back, taking their largest lead of the game with 1:27 on the clock courtesy of a Maw jumper that made it a 28-21 game. The Pioneers closed the half on a 6-0 run, heading into halftime trailing by a single point.

The second period started off much like the first with the two teams battling for every basket. Lewis & Clark did manage to take the lead out of the gate, running up a 32-31 advantage with 17:04 to go. The Pioneers picked up their largest lead of the game after a 12-2 run made it a 50-38 game with 9:05 remaining.

Puget Sound rallied back to pull within three points, 53-50, with 3:35 on the clock. With the game tied at 56-56 the Loggers closed out the game with a three pointer by Cheledinas and a free-throw by Maw for the 60-56 victory. 

Lewis & Clark returns to the court on Friday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. as the team hosts the Linfield Wildcats.