PARKLAND, Wash. – The Puget Sound men's basketball team was able to score the final three points of the game to pull off a 67-64 upset of 21st-ranked UW-River Falls on Saturday. With the score tied at 64-64 and 59 seconds left, the Loggers (5-0) earned three trips to the line and locked down on defense to fend off the Falcons (4-2).
The Loggers led by as much as 10 points in the second half but a strong Falcons team refused to go away. Anthony Gittens' free throw gave the Loggers their biggest lead of the night at 45-35 but Brian Kimble responded with a three-pointer for the Falcons to cut the lead back to single digits with about 16 minutes remaining in the game.
The Falcons slowly chipped away at the Loggers lead until Taylor Peterson's lay-in gave the Falcons a 64-63 lead with 1:06 left. Kaleb Shelton stepped up on the Loggers next trip down the court and hit two free throws to reclaim the lead with 59 seconds left.
Over the next minute, the Loggers forced two turnovers and two missed three-point attempts to hold on to the win. Ryan Rogers and Edric Egberaure each went 1-of-2 from the free throw line to help seal the victory.
Riggs Yarbro led the Loggers with 16 points off the bench. Derek Jobe added 14 points and seven rebounds while Shelton finished with 13 points. Shane Manor's 24 points and 10 boards led the Falcons. Kimble contributed 12 points.
"We continuously just find those X factors off the bench.," said head coach Justin Lunt. "Nick Holden came in when Gittens picked up his third foul and did a great job. Jobe hit some amazing shots."
The Loggers never trailed after the 18:45 mark in the first half although the Falcons tied the game twice in the opening half. In that half, the Falcons shot just 27.6 percent and went on to make 36.2 percent of their shots in the game.
The Loggers shot 44 percent, including 42.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
"This is a great win for our guys," added Lunt. "The best thing about this team is that they know we need to get back to work on Monday and focus in on two good opponents. It's nice to beat a top-25 team and be 5-0 but we can't forget about the big picture."
The Loggers will open conference play next week when they travel to Willamette and Pacific on Friday and Saturday.