PORTLAND, Ore. -- Leading by two points about halfway through the opening half, senior Jason Luhnow and freshman Kyle Owens nailed 3-point baskets, followed by Mat Collins' layup, to give the Lewis & Clark Pioneers a five-point lead over Willamette on Saturday night.

It seemed as though the Pios couldn't miss before a 5 for 12 first half from long range trickled to 2 of 16 in the second half, as Lewis & Clark lost to the visiting Bearcats 71-66 at Pamplin Sports Center.

The Pioneers allowed 41 second half points, 28 of which came in the final 10 minutes of the game. The win was Willamette's first against Lewis & Clark in four years.

Luhnow had his first 20-plus game since Jan. 9, scoring 24 points on 10 of 18 shooting to lead all scorers. He finished with four 3-pointers, three steals and three rebounds. Despite the point total, Luhnow scored only one basket after his layup with 15:33 remaining in regulation put the Pios up 47-38, Lewis & Clark's largest lead of the game.

Carl Appleton had his third-consecutive double-digit performance, adding 11 points and six rebounds. He scored with 12:40 left, followed by a Jonathan Boddie lay-in, before the Pios went over 5:30 without a field goal.

Lewis & Clark took the ball away from Willamette seven more times, 17-10, and outscored the Bearcats off those turnovers, 23-10, but Willamette made nearly 62 percent of its second half shots to complete the rally.

In the second half, Nico Troplent scored 14 points to lead the Bearcats, followed by Alex Brown's 12. The two combined to shoot 11 of 13 from the floor in the second half, each missing one shot. Overall, they combined for 38 of Willamette's 71 points. Bridger Harlington and Brandon Luedtke added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Without Brown's 18 points, Lewis & Clark would have held a 24-9 edge in bench points. Boddie made all four of his shot attempts to finish with nine points and a team-best seven rebounds, followed by six points and five rebounds from Owens. Kupa'a Harrison put in five points.

The closest the Pios were able to get after falling behind with 8:58 remaining was after Boddie's made free throw brought Lewis & Clark within 58-57 with 5:53 left.

Saturday was Lewis & Clark's return to Portland for the first time since Jan. 8. After playing four games on the road, a stretch in which Lewis & Clark went 3-1 with its only loss on Friday, 80-77 to Pacific in triple overtime, the Pios have three more home games in a row. Lewis & Clark hosts Whitman on Friday and Whitworth on Jan. 30 before a Feb. 5 game against Puget Sound at Pamplin Sports Center.

Other Northwest Conference Games - Saturday

Whitworth 87, Puget Sound 68
Linfield 53, Pacific 42
Pacific Lutheran 79, Whitman 74