SPOKANE, Wash. – Brad Lackey and Jack Holtz came up big for short-handed Whitworth University, leading the Pirates to an 86-75 win over visiting Puget Sound on Friday night in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game. 

Four players hit career highs for a team that had four starters in street clothes on the sideline.  Lackey had 23 while Holtz posted a double-double of 13 points and ten rebounds.  Lackey, Tanner Fogle and Jerry Twenge made their first career starts for Whitworth (5-3 overall, 3-0 NWC).

After Whitworth jumped out to a quick 9-5 lead, Puget Sound (1-6, 1-6) used a 13-2 run to go ahead 18-11.  The Loggers took their largest lead at 23-15 on Will Mathews' three pointer nine minutes into the game.  The Pirates stemmed the tide on a Lackey basket, followed by Chewey Zevenbergen's three-point play on an offensive rebound.  Garrett Paxton drained a three-pointer to give Whitworth the lead back at 32-30 and Lackey followed with a three-pointer a minute later.  Leading 39-35 with four minutes to go, the Bucs closed the half on an 11-5 spurt to take a 50-40 lead into halftime.

Both teams shot better than 50% in the opening half, and each had 15 rebounds.  The difference was in turnovers, where Puget Sound had 11 and Whitworth only six.

After scoring half of a hundred in the first half, the Pirates got off to a slow offensive start to the second period, allowing the Loggers to get within 50-45 three and a half minutes in.  But Lackey drove for a layup and converted it into a three-point play to restart the offense.  Whitworth stretched the lead to 12 before Puget Sound cut the margin to five again (59-54) on Cal Hanson's jump shot.  Once more it was Lackey who responded, with a layup and a three-pointer.  The Bucs eventually led by as many as 16 points (82-66) late in the game.

Zevenbergen reach a career-high with 14 points, as did Twenge with 13.  Fogle added 10 to give the Pirates five players in double figures.  Whitworth finished the game 48.4% (30-62) from the field and 75% (18-24) from the free throw line.  The Bucs had a 34-30 edge in rebounds.

Paul Johnson scored 14, while C.J. Geathers and Jourdan Joseph each came off the bench for 13 points to the Loggers.  Mussie Teclemarian added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.

The teams will play again on Saturday night at 8:00 pm.