SPOKANE, Wash. – Giving it everything they had, the Puget
Sound Loggers did their best to hand the Whitworth Pirates their
first conference loss of the year but after 40 minutes, it was the
eighth-ranked Bucs who got the victory, 82-71, in a Northwest
Conference men's basketball game on Friday night at Whitworth
Fieldhouse in Spokane, Wash.
In the first half, the Loggers came out strong and matched the Bucs
seemingly basket for basket and holding a lead for the entire
period. The Puget Sound lead hit 11 points after a 12-3 run the put
the Loggers up 32-21 with 7:25 to go in the first half. The Pirates
battled back, pulling back within five points but the Loggers took
a 39-34 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, the maroon-clad Loggers continued to hold the
Pirates at bay but Whitworth eventually wore down the Loggers,
taking the lead with 14:34 left to play. The Whitworth lead got up
to eight points with just under nine minutes to play but the
Loggers battled back, getting within one point with 4:05 left on
the clock.
After a brief Whtiworth run, a three-pointer by David Aberg
(Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt) with 46 seconds left got the Loggers
back within four but Puget Sound had to foul the rest of the way
and Whitworth made their free throws as they earned an 82-71 win to
clinch the conference title outright.
The Loggers were led by 18 points from senior Bryce Levin (Everett,
Wash.), all six baskets coming from behind the arc. Colin Koach
(Portland, Ore./Franklin) chipped in 14 points while Kaleb Shelton
(Tacoma, Wash./Lincoln) nearly got the double-double with nine
points and nine rebounds.
Whitworth was led by 23 points from post Nate Montgomery, who had
11 points come from the charity stripe. Bo Gregg finished with 22
points while Clay Gebbers and Eric Beal chipped in 14 and 10 points
respectively. Whitworth took advantage of 17 Logger turnovers,
scoring 17 points off the giveaways.
The Loggers will look to get back in the win column on Saturday
night when they travel to Walla Walla, Wash. to take on Whitman.
Tip with the Missionaries is set for 6:00 p.m. at the Sherwood
Center.
