PORTLAND, Ore. - The Lewis & Clark men's basketball team fell 64-62 to the Puget Sound Loggers on Saturday in a critical Northwest Conference match-up. 

The loss drops the Pioneers to 13-10 overall and 8-6 in conference. The Loggers improve to 12-10 on the season and 7-7 in the NWC. The Pioneers have a one game lead on the Loggers and Willamette in the standings with two regular season contests left. Currently the Pioneers are in third place in the NWC.

Jonathan Boddie and Serg Ovchinnikov led the Pioneers with a team-high 13 points, while Jason Luhnow netted 11 points. Carl Appleton finished one point shy of a double-double, knocking down nine points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

Erin Barber led the Loggers with 19 points, while Nick Holden scored 14 points. Kohl Meyer led Puget Sound with eight rebounds.

Despite earning an early lead on a Luhnow free-throw, the Pioneers fell behind after a 10-4 Puget Sound run with 9:53 to play The Pioneers closed out the half on a run of their own, cutting the deficit to 31-29 at the intermission.  

Lewis & Clark tied the game at 31 all on an Appleton jumper to start the second half. The basket sparked an 8-2 run that gave the Pios a 37-33 lead with 16:55 remaining. The Loggers tied the game at 49-49 on a pair of free-throws with 8:16 on the clock. 

The Pioneers earned its largest lead of the game after an 8-0 run that made it a 57-49 game with 6:19 to go. Puget Sound responded with a 9-0 run that gave them the lead back at 58-57. The two sides traded baskets down the stretch, with Puget Sound taking a two point, 64-62, lead with 55 second remaining. With the shot clock off, the Pioneers stole the ball and managed to get three shots off before time expired, but none of them would fall.