PARKLAND, Wash. – Whitworth missed three tries at a game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds, allowing Pacific Lutheran to hold on for a 75-72 Northwest Conference men's basketball win over the visiting Pirates on Friday night at Olson Auditorium.
The loss, combined with Whitman's 74-69 win at Puget Sound, drops Whitworth (16-8 overall, 12-3 NWC) into a tie for first place with the Blues (18-6, 12-3) in the conference standings. The Pirates can clinch the right to host next weekend's Northwest Conference tournament by winning at Puget Sound tomorrow night.
PLU (14-10, 7-8) kept its flickering conference tournament hopes alive.
Colton Looney's jumper gave Whitworth a 14-9 lead eight minutes into the game. The Pirates held the lead for the game's first 15 minutes, but got stuck at 20 points for nearly six minutes, allowing PLU to turn a 20-17 deficit to a 29-22 lead with a 12-2 run, capped by back to back three-pointers from Mack Hepper and Henry Smith. The Bucs cut the margin to 31-27 at the break on Sullivan Menard's jumper with 24 seconds to go.
Whitworth hit its first three three-pointers coming out of the break and retook the lead when Menard's trey made it 40-39. Jake Holtz scored off an offensive rebound to give the Pirate a 50-45 advantage, their largest of the second half. PLU responded by scoring three points on six of its next eight possessions, going up 63-57 on a trey by Jason Montes. Brandin Riedel's three-point play with 3:31 to go increased the Lutes' lead to 70-60.
But the Pirates were not done, outscoring PLU 12-2 over the next three minutes. Jojo Anderson converted three-point and-ones on consecutive possessions to tie the game 72-72 with 49 seconds left. After Riedel made one of two free throws, Anderson was called for an offensive foul with 16 seconds to go. Montes drained both free throws for the 75-72 margin in the ensuing possession. Menard missed an off-balance three-pointer, tracked down the rebound, and had his second attempt tipped by a defender. The officials ruled there was three-tenths of a second left on the clock and Whitworth found Holtz for a clean look off the inbounds, but it didn't fall.
Anderson finished with 17 points, while Holtz and Menard scored 15 apiece. Holtz also led the Bucs with eight boards. Whitworth made 26-58 from the field (44.8%) and 7-21 (33.3%) from three-point range.
Montes scored a game-high 22 points for PLU, while Riedel scored a dozen. Hepper had 11 off the bench. PLU went 10-24 (41.7%) from three-point range, 7-13 (54%) in the second half.
