SPOKANE, Wash. – The University of Puget Sound men's basketball continued to fight against No. 4 Whitworth until the final buzzer but fell 72-65.  Down by as many as 13 points late in the second half, the young Loggers team battled until the final moments of the game as they refused to let the game get out of reach.

"I'm really proud of the effort we put forth tonight," said head coach Justin Lunt. "We played very, very hard and learned a lot about ourselves as a team tonight."

Edric Egberaure led the Loggers (5-8, 2-2 NWC) with 15 points while Kaleb Shelton added 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. The Loggers also got 20 points from their bench in the balanced effort.

As a team, the Loggers shot 40.3 percent from the floor and out rebounded the Pirates (13-0, 4-0 NWC) 40-37, including 14-9 on the offensive glass. Anthony Gittens pulled down eight rebounds to lead the Loggers.

However, Felix Friedt scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Pirates while Mike Taylor contributed 21 points to the Pirates cause. The Pirates shot 40.4 percent from the floor and the Loggers limited them to 26.7 percent shooting from three-point range.

The Loggers will have a short week as they prepare to go to Pacific Lutheran on Tuesday at 8 p.m.