Box Score

TACOMA, Wash. – Pacific Lutheran's second half surge turned a low scoring, close game into victory Friday as the Lutes beat Pacific 52-41 in both teams' Northwest Conference men's basketball season opener at Olson Auditorium.
 
The Boxers (5-5, 0-1 NWC) shot just 35.6 percent from the field (16-45) for the game, but still managed to match the Lutes in the first half with nine made field goals and trailed 26-23 at halftime.  Pacific made just two shots in the first eight minutes of the second half as the Lutes built their largest lead of 12 points, 42-30, with 13:24 remaining.  PLU outscored Pacific 26-18 in the final stanza to secure the victory.
 
Mitch Wettig (Sr., Bend, Ore.) led Pacific with 10 points, all of which he scored in the first half, to go along with four rebounds, two assists and three steals.  Riley Grandinetti (Sr., Murray, Utah) added nine points while Skyler Burgess (Jr., Riverton, Utah) scored eight points while going a perfect 4 of 4 from the field.  Marc Eppinger (Jr., Camas, Wash.) had nine rebounds as the Boxers outrebounded the Lutes 30-29.
 
Pacific struggled in all aspects in the offense, shooting 26.1 percent from three-point range (6-23) and a season-low 42.9 percent from the free throw line.
 
Dylan Foreman led PLU (3-7, 1-0 NWC) with 14 points on 5 of 9 from the field.  Brandon Lester scored nine points while Bryce Miller had a game-high nine rebounds.
 
Both teams struggled to find their shooting touch over the first five minutes.  The Lutes owned an 8-7 lead at the 15:54 mark before Austen Wilson's lay-up with 15:11 to go started a 9-1 run over the next three minutes with Terrell Williams' jumper at the 12:01 mark gave PLU a 17-8 lead. 
 
The Lutes' lead was still nine points when Wettig's lay-in with 8:45 left in the period started an 8-0 run that brought the Boxers within one, 19-18, on Bobby Ahern's (Jr., Madras, Ore.) free throw with 4:59 left.  Burgess tied the frame at 23-23 with his lay-in with two minutes left, but Brandon Lester's three-pointer on the next possession was the last made shot of the half as the Lutes went into the locker room with a 26-23 advantage.
 
Pacific opened the second half by cutting the lead to one on Grandinetti's three-pointer a minute into the period, but PLU went on to outscore the Boxers 26-15 the rest of the way.  The PLU lead was two point at the 17:07 mark when the Lutes went on a 12-2 run, with Kevin McCrossin's three-pointer opened up a 42-30 lead with 13:24 to go. 
 
Pacific managed to bring it back to within six, 44-38, on Daniel Gunther's (Jr., San Jose, Calif.) three-point play with nine minutes left, but would come no closer.  PLU outscored the Boxers 8-2 the rest of the way as the Lutes built their largest lead of 14 points with 3:38 left.
 
Pacific returns to action on Saturday, heading south to McMinnville to take on Linfield.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.  A live audio webcast of the game will be available at GoBoxers.com.