PORTLAND, Ore. - Senior Jason
Foster (Spanaway, Wash./Henry Foss) exploded for 38
points but in the end, it was the Warner Pacific Knights
collecting a 98-95 win over the 14th-ranked Puget Sound Loggers in
a non-conference men's basketball game on Thursday night at CC
Perry Gymnasium in Portland, Ore.
The Loggers (5-1) got off to
a quick start, scoring the game's first nine points and continued
to hold the lead through the first part of the game. The
Knights (6-1), ranked 15th in the latest NAIA national rankings,
began to chip away at the UPS lead with just over nine minutes to
go and took their first lead of the game with 5:24 remaining,
32-31. The teams traded the lead a few more times before
Warner Pacific headed into halftime with a 53-48 win.
In the second half, the two teams
continued to battle as neither team was able to really break
away. The Loggers eventually built a lead of six with 7:33
remaining but the Knights quickly came back, taking the lead over
with 4:30 to go. After the Loggers retook the lead, the
Knights tied the game with one minute to go on a jumper in the
paint by Adam Moore. Foster gave the Loggers a two-point lead
with 37 seconds remaining but a three-ball by Kenen Dizdrevic gave
the Knights a one-point lead with 11 seconds to go. Following
a missed jumper at the other end, Dizdrezic hit a pair of free
throws to ice the lead as WPC took the win, 98-95.
The Loggers were led by the
game-high 38 points from Foster, who also added a team-high nine
rebounds. Robert Krauel (Phoenix, Ariz./North Canyon) added
20 points while Antwan Williams (Portland, Ore./Madison) chalked up
15 in the loss to go with eight assists.
The Knights were led by 32 points
from Moore. Dizdrevic finished with 30 while Kaylone Riley
collected the double-double with 10 points and 15 boards.
Warner Pacific out-hustled the Loggers on the glass, collecting 57
rebounds to the Loggers' 32 rebounds.
Puget Sound will look to get back
in the win column on Saturday night when they travel to Lacey,
Wash. to take on Division II's 25th-ranked team in St.
Martin's. Tip-off with the Saints is set for 7:00 p.m.
Box
Score
