PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College men's basketball played one of their most competitive games of the season in their regular-season finale, as the Pioneers celebrated Senior Day in front a large crowd at Pamplin Gymasium. 
 
THE BASICS
University of Puget Sound 79, Lewis & Clark 75
(Lewis & Clark 13-12, Northwest Conference 7-9)
(Puget Sound 18-7, NWC 11-5) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
With the Pios needing a win and help to get into the Northwest Conference Tournament, they went the distance and a little bit further in a back-and-forth tilt with the visiting Loggers. 
 
Prior to the contest, Lewis & Clark honored the six members of their Class of 2023: Brenden Patrick, Jonathan Green, Tyler McFarland, Jack Henderson, Grant Stewart and Bille Sheikh. 
 
Henderson led the Pioneers in their first overtime contest of the year. The senior posted a double-double of a game-high 20 points and a game and career-high 17 rebounds. He added three blocks and one steal in 43 minutes of action. 
 
McFarland enjoyed his best day as a Pioneer. The Pios second-year law student who was playing in his sixth and final year of collegiate basketball went off for 19 points on 5-9 shooting, 3-6 shooting from beyond the arc and hit all six of his free throws. McFarland tacked on four rebounds, an assist and a steal. 
 
Patrick added 16 points, five assists, three steals and two rebounds in his final game as a Pioneer. 
 
Junior Jayden Simpson was the final Pioneer in double-figures. He posted 14 points and seven rebounds. 
 
Mussie Teclemariam led five Puget Sound players in double-figures. He posted 18 points, six rebounds and two assists for the Loggers, who will be the two seed in next week's four-team NWC Tournament. 
 
Saturday night's game got off to a slow start with the Pios' league-leading offense struggling to get going. After going down by six (tied for their largest deficit) with 5:05 left in the half, the Pios closed the half on a 10-5 run to cut the deficit to 32-31 at the break. McFarland hit four free throws during the span, while Patrick, Henderson and Simpson each added two points apiece. 
 
Puget Sound looked like they were going to run away with the contest early in the second half. The Loggers stretched their advantage to 12 (43-31) just 3:55 into the second stanza. 
 
Less than four minutes later, Lewis & Clark was back within two thanks to their Senior Class. Henderson started the 13-3 flurry with five-straight points, Patrick hit a jumper and then McFarland canned back-to-back threes to make it 46-44 with 12:29 left in regulation. 
 
The Loggers built their advantage back out to seven but more strong play from Henderson and the red-hot McFarland helped Lewis & Clark tie the game at 57 with 6:35 left. 
 
Neither team would lead by more than four the rest of regulation. Puget Sound made it 66-63 with 2:11 to go but Patrick forced a steal and Henderson canned his first three of the night to tie the game at 66 with 1:23 left. After a Loggers bucket on their next possession, Patrick hit a huge step back jumper to tie the game with 38 seconds left. Puget Sound had two chances to win the game in regulation but Henderson blocked one three and a second three was off the mark at the buzzer. 
 
Lewis & Clark scored the first five points of overtime to grab a 73-68 advantage. Simpson hit a put-back layup after grabbing an offensive rebound and completed the 3-point play and Patrick followed with a lay-in of his own. 
 
Puget Sound answered with eight unanswered points to build a 77-73 advantage. Henderson hit two of three free throws to cut the deficit to 77-75 with 12 seconds left but Taj Phillips hit two free throws on the other end to ice the game. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Patrick wraps up his Pioneers career with 1,176 points in three seasons (15.9 points per game). 
• McFarland's 19 points were not only the most points he's scored in two years at Lewis & Clark but the second most points of his career (22 while at Macalester College). 
• Henderson finishes his collegiate career with three-straight double-doubles. This season he led the Pioneers with 6.3 rebounds per game and finished second on the team and third in the conference with his 18.6 points per game. 
• Patrick finishes his senior season tied for sixth in program history with his 21.5 points per game average. He's the first player to make the top-10 since the 2003-04 season. 
• Lewis & Clark ends the season as the top scoring team in the NWC (81.8 points per game) and the top free throw shooting team (75.5 percent). 

WHAT'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark is expected to return the majority of their roster including six players who appeared in 16 or more games.