TACOMA, Wash. — Lewis & Clark College men's basketball held a one-point lead with four minutes remaining but couldn't fend off a late surge by Pacific Lutheran University, falling 71-67 in Friday night's Northwest Conference road matchup.
 
THE BASICS
 
Pacific Lutheran 71, Lewis & Clark 67
(Lewis & Clark 8-8, 4-3 NWC)
(Pacific Lutheran 7-9, 4-3 NWC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
A trio of seniors led the Pioneers in double figures. Griffin Datcher IV paced the team with a season-high 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Sam Henderson contributed 14 points, including 4-of-5 from the free-throw line, while Nate Berg added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds in the tightly contested road game.
 
The teams battled to a 32-32 deadlock in the first half, after Lewis & Clark battled back from a nine-point deficit. The Lutes held their largest lead at 23-13 with 8:20 remaining in the first half, but a free throw by Datcher IV at the 3:29 mark capped a 13-3 run by the Pioneers to even the score at 26-26. Senior Sebastian DePrez (four points) gave the Pioneers a brief 32-30 lead with a dunk at the 42-second mark, but Pacific Lutheran's Miles Nash hit two free throws to tie the game heading into the break.
 
Senior Isaac Ticeson (four points) and junior Taien Jackson (four points) pushed the Pioneers to their largest lead of the night, 44-39, early in the second half. However, the Lutes responded with an 11-2 run to build a 56-47 advantage with 9:30 to play. Lewis & Clark eventually retook the lead at 62-61 on a jumper by Datcher IV with 4:06 remaining.

Pacific Lutheran answered with a 6-0 run to take a 67-62 advantage. Senior Mikey Medlock Jr. (seven points) sank a clutch three-pointer with 1:26 left to cut the deficit to two. Nash converted two free throws with 20 seconds remaining, extending the Lutes' lead to 69-65. Datcher IV scored again to bring Lewis & Clark within two with 13 seconds left, but PLU's Ben Tellez sealed the win with two free throws in the final moments.

Nash led all scorers with 19 points for Pacific Lutheran, which shot 19-of-25 from the free-throw line compared to Lewis & Clark's 8-of-11.

BY THE NUMBERS 

• Datcher IV's eight field goals tied Henderson for the most by a Pioneer in a game this season. Henderson made eight field goals against Cal Lutheran on Dec. 20.
• The Pioneers outshot the Lutes (50% to 46.9%) and committed five fewer turnovers (6).
• Lewis & Clark's bench has now scored 30 or more points in four straight games.

 
WHO'S NEXT
 
The Pioneers return to Pamplin Sports Center to wrap up the first half of NWC play against George Fox University tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.