PORTLAND, Ore. – Junior Joe Brown scored a career-high 27 points on Friday evening to lead Lewis & Clark College men's basketball to an 85-68 victory over Pacific Lutheran University at Pamplin Sports Center.
 
THE BASICS
 
Lewis & Clark 85, Pacific Lutheran 68
Lewis & Clark (9-9, 5-4 NWC)
Pacific Lutheran (9-9, 3-6 NWC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Brown connected on 7-of-9 attempts from 3-point range and finished 9-for-11 from the field. He added five rebounds and one assist. Sophomore Marcus Bast contributed 18 points, seven assists and three rebounds while shooting 7-for-10. Senior Justin White recorded 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.
 
White opened the scoring with a layup at 19:19 to give Lewis & Clark a 2-0 lead. The teams traded baskets over the next two minutes before Pacific Lutheran's Henry Smith drained a 3-pointer at 16:17 to take a 9-6 lead. Bast answered immediately with a 3-pointer at 16:06 to tie the game at 9-9.
 
Lewis & Clark pulled away from there. Bast converted a fast-break layup at 15:42 following a steal by sophomore Jake Rodriguez, and Brown connected on a 3-pointer at 14:54 to extend the lead to 14-9. White added a jumper at 12:56 to push the margin to 16-10, and sophomore Donovan Beard converted two free throws at 12:24 to make it 18-10.
 
Pacific Lutheran responded behind Tellez, who scored 14 first-half points. His driving layup at 4:17 cut the deficit to 29-25, and he followed with a free throw to make it 29-26. Lewis & Clark answered with a 10-3 run. Bast, who scored 16 points before the break, drilled a 3-pointer at 2:24 to push the lead to 39-29. Brown added two free throws in the final second to send Lewis & Clark into halftime with a 41-35 advantage.
 
Brown continued his strong shooting in the second half. He opened with a 3-pointer at 18:43 and added another at 17:47 to push the lead to 47-39. Pacific Lutheran cut the deficit to 49-47 on a Tellez 3-pointer with 14:58 remaining, but Lewis & Clark responded with a decisive 20-9 run.
 
Brown scored 12 points during that stretch. He hit consecutive 3-pointers at 9:49 and 9:18, then added another at 8:25 to build a 66-53 advantage. His final 3-pointer at 7:45 gave Lewis & Clark a 69-55 lead.
 
White scored on a driving layup at 7:06 to extend the margin to 71-55, and Bast added a fast-break layup at 5:25 to make it 73-57. Lewis & Clark maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
 
Lewis & Clark limited Pacific Lutheran to 34.4 percent shooting from the field. Tellez led the Lutes with 23 points and five rebounds, while Smith added 16 points.
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• Brown's seven made 3-pointers are the most by a Lewis & Clark player since current senior Kody Uyesugi sank seven against George Fox on Jan. 27, 2024.
• Lewis & Clark held a 32-20 advantage in points in the paint and outscored Pacific Lutheran 12-0 in fast-break points.
• Rodriguez led all players with four steals.
• Brown scored 20 of his career-high total in the second half, shooting 6-of-7 from 3-point range and 7-for-8 from the field after the break.
• Lewis & Clark shot 52.6 percent from the field, the eighth time this season the team has shot 50 percent or better.
• Senior Taien Jackson finished with nine points and three assists, while Beard added six points.
• Juniors Yigit Arcan and Shemar O'Roy Ford joined Beard and Brown in recording a blocked shot.

WHO'S NEXT
 
Lewis & Clark hosts the University of Puget Sound on Saturday in Northwest Conference action. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Pamplin Sports Center.