THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Pacific Lutheran won its fourth straight game and got above the .500 mark for the season with a 79-55 men's basketball win over Caltech on Sunday's final day of the SCIAC Classic at California Lutheran University's Gilbert Arena.

At the same time that they improved their season record to 5-4, the Lutes also brought an end to a Caltech three-game winning streak, that program's longest since the 1994-95 season.

PLU used a balanced scoring attack and a big rebounding advantage to beat the Beavers. Kyle MacTaggart and Kole Podowicz both scored 12 points to lead the Lutes, followed by Victor Bull with 11 and Andrew Earnest with 10. For Podowicz, a frosh post out of Lacey's Timberline High School, it was a collegiate career high.

Zachary Klein corraled 11 rebounds, while Bull and Cameron Schilling both grabbed nine, to lead the Lutes to a 49-31 dominance in that category. There were plenty of rebounds to grab as the Beavers shot just 33 percent (16-for-48), compared to the Lutes' 43 percent (29-for-67), during the game.

Mike Edwards scored 18 points for Caltech to lead all scorers.

Caltech held its last lead at 16-15 on a three-point basket by Edwards with 9:00 left in the opening half. Klein hit a three-ball on the other end of the floor to get the Lutes going on an 8-0 run, and they would not trail following that point. They eventually led 45-31 at the half and never led by less than 10 points in the final 20 minutes of the contest. PLU's largest lead was also the final margin of victory.

The Lutes return to action on Dec. 28 when they play Evergreen State in Olympia.

- PLU -