BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. - The Lewis & Clark continued its strong season with a 68-54 victory over Willamette on Friday night in Northwest Conference action.

Lewis & Clark improves to 14-7 on the season and 7-5 in Northwest Conference action. The Bearcats fall to 3-18 overall and 1-11 in conference. With the win and a George Fox win, the two teams remain tied for fourth place in the standings.

Senior Quentin Sims led the Pioneers with a game-high 14 points and 11 rebounds for the only double-double of the night. Randall Jackson knocked down 12 points off the bench for the Pioneers, while Serg Ovchinnikov scored 11. Bradley Carter collected eight boards for L&C and teammate Jason Luhnow ended the night with seven rebounds.

Avery Manu scored a team-high 14 points for the Bearcats. Alex Hansen was the only other player to score in double figures for Willamette, knocking down 11. 

Willamette netted the first basket of the game at the 18:18 mark, but that would be the teams only lead. Ben Neves tied the game at 2-2 minutes later. An Ovchinnikov earned the Pioneers their first double-digit lead of the game with 7:39 to go, making it a 25-14 game. Lewis & Clark continued to maintain a solid advantage heading into halftime, closing out the half on a 13-9 run.

Connor Freeberg extended the Pioneer lead right out of the game with back-to-back free-throws, earning the team a 40-23 lead.  The Pioneers largest lead of the game came at the 14:28 mark when Ovchinnokov hit a three-pointer assisted by Sims. The Bearcats tried to chip away at the lead over the remaining minutes but could never make up significant ground. 

The Pioneers travel to Pacific on Saturday, Feb. 15 for an 8 p.m. tip-off.