PARKLAND - Playing point guard instead of his normal shooting guard position, Andrew Earnest scored 19 points and contributed four assists to lead Pacific Lutheran to a 67-47 non-conference men's basketball win over St. Scholastica on Monday night in Olson Auditorium.
With the victory, the Lutes improve to 2-5 overall. St. Scholastica, which plays at Puget Sound on Tuesday night, is now 1-5 for the season.
With the team's top three point guards sidelined by injury, Earnest made a smooth transition to running the PLU offense, and he also provided the team's primary scoring spark against the visitors from Duluth, Minn. Earnest was 8-for-17 from the field and hit a trio of three-point shots, including back-to-back daggers late in the game that kept the Saints at bay. On defense, he contributed three steals.
The Lutes built a 20-point lead at 52-32 on Johnny Tveter's jumper with just under 10 minutes left in the game. St. Scholastica responded with an 8-0 run, including three-point baskets by Steve Golobich and Andrew Laughlin, and when Jonah Dahlman scored inside the Saints had whittled their deficit to 55-44 with 4:08 remaining.
Earnest ended the Saints' hopes with back-to-back treys on PLU's next two possessions, and with a 17-point lead and just under three minutes left the win was secured.
Joining Earnest in double figures was Daniel Landrum with 13 points. He also contributed three assists and five of the team's 10 steals. Cameron Schilling led the PLU rebounding with six.
Brett Tester was St. Scholastica's lone double-figure scorer, working in the paint and finished with 16 points, and he also contributed seven rebounds. MarShaan Johnson led all players with nine rebounds to go along with his eight points.
St. Scholastica hurt their own cause with 35 percent shooting (18-for-51) and 23 turnovers. The Lutes, meanwhile, shot 44 percent (26-for-59) and turned the ball over just nine times.
PLU opens Northwest Conference play at 8 p.m. Friday when they face defending champion Whitworth in Spokane.
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