PARKLAND - Pacific Lutheran outscored Evergreen State by 27 points in the second half on the way to a convincing 76-45 men's basketball win at the PLU Thanksgiving Classic played Friday in Olson Auditorium.

The win was the first of the season for the Lutes against three losses, while Evergreen dropped its fourth straight open the season. Additionally, Pacific Lutheran also gained a measure of revenge for losing to Evergreen State in this tournament a year ago.

Cameron Schilling notched a double-double with games highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Drew Earnest knocked down a trio of three-point shots on the way to 13 points. In all, 10 of the 15 PLU players to see action scored at least one point.

For Evergreen, Travis Wagner scored 18 points, 13 of them in the opening half.

Terrell Williams opened the game with a basket for the Lutes, but KJ Hong answered with a pair of three-pointers to give Evergreen a 6-2 lead two minutes into the game. Williams hit a jumper, a free throw and a layup and Schilling added a pair of layups as PLU proceeded to score the next 12 points in a row to take a 14-6 lead with 13:01 left on the first half clock.

Wagner responded with five straight points for the Geoducks, but the Lutes gradually pulled away and took a 35-26 halftime lead on a tipin by Schilling with nine seconds left in the half.

The second half was never close once Pacific Lutheran opened with seven unanswered points. A three-point make by Earnest with 9:42 remaining made it a 60-32 game, and a layup by Daniel Landram with 3:35 to play gave PLU its largest lead at 73-39.

Pacific Lutheran shot 48 percent from the field (31-for-65) compared to just 32 percent (15-for-47) for Evergreen. The Lutes also enjoyed a huge 45-28 rebounding edge and benefitted from 22 Evergreen turnovers.

- PLU -