TACOMA, Wash. - The Lewis & Clark men's basketball team could not survive overtime at Pacific Lutheran on Friday night, despite coming back from a 10-point deficit at halftime. The Lutes earned a 55-51 overtime victory in Northwest Conference action. 

With the loss the Pioneers fall to 11-9 overall and 6-5 in conference action. The Lutes improve to 6-14 on the season and 4-7 in the NWC. 

Serg Ovchinnikov led all players with 15 points, while Cannen Roberson came off the bench to score 14. Jason Luhnow also ended the night in double-figures for the Pioneers, netting 10 points, while collecting eight rebounds and two steals. Carl Appleton collected a game-high 12 boards for the Pios. 

Brandon Lester led the Lutes with 14 points, Kevin McCrossin finished with 12 points and Terrell Williams netted 10.  

It took until the 17:30 mark for either team to get on the board with the Pioneers striking first on a Bradley Carter layup. It would be another two minutes for PLU to respond with the Lutes taking a 3-2 lead with 15:19 remaining. The half remained a two-possession game until the final three minutes when the Lutes began to pull away. With just seconds left in the half, Lester laid one in to send PLU into the intermission leading 28-18.

Lewis & Clark opened the second half strong, cutting the deficit to five points in the opening five minutes. The Pioneers continued to chip away at the Lute lead pulling within two points, 37-35, after back-to-back free-throws by Jonathan Boddie. Ovchinnikov nailed a long range three with 6:16 on the clock to tie the game at 40-40. Roberson followed that up with a jumper that earned the Pioneers their first lead of the half and their first since the 13:36 mark in the first half.

Pacific Lutheran knotted the game up two minutes later with a three-pointer. Roberson gave the Pioneers the lead back with consecutive free-throws but the Lutes once again tied the game with 1:39 remaining. Neither side would score again in regulation. 

The Lutes opened the overtime with a free-throw that earned them the first lead. Lewis & Clark responded with a pair of free-throws to retake the lead. Ovchinnikov extended the lead to 51-48 with 2:00 left to play in the first overtime. The Lutes pulled within a point with a minute and a half remaining before going on to close the game on a 5-0 run for the win. 

Lewis & Clark returns to the court on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. in the Pamplin Sports Center against Pacific.