PARKLAND - Pacific Lutheran scored 11 of the game's final 14 points to beat Linfield, 62-54, in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game played Friday night in Olson Auditorium.
With the win, the Lutes improve to 6-15 overall and 4-8 in the conference. Linfield is now 3-17 overall and 2-9 in the NWC.
After trailing by as many as 12 points early in the second half, Linfield battled back to tie the game at 51-51 on a free throw by Dakotah Pine with 4:06 to play. The Wildcats then had a chance to take the lead for the first time in the game, only to turn the ball over. Soon thereafter, all of that work went for naught as the Lutes ran off nine unanswered points.
Terrell Williams drove to the basket for a layup to start the surge, and Drew Earnest scored another layup on a nice feed from Cameron Schilling. Arvid Isaksen then buried a three-pointer from deep on the left side, and Schilling ended the run with a pair of free throws, those coming with 57 seconds left. Schilling later put the game on ice with two more charity tosses.
In the final four minutes, Linfield's only points came on three free throws.
PLU never trailed in the game after getting the first basket on Isaksen's jumper about 40 seconds into the contest. The Wildcats tied it on Nick Cantonwine's basket, but the Lutes held the lead throughout the remainder of the first period. Their biggest lead came at eight points on several occasions, the first on Earnest's third three-pointer of the first half.
It was Earnest's second three-pointer, which came with 6:34 on the clock, that put the senior guard on a list of 23 Pacific Lutheran men's basketball players who have scored at least 1,000 points in their career.
The Lutes were able to get their 12-point advantage on two free throws by Williams about two minutes into the final half, but nearly seven minutes elapsed before they would score again on Isaksen's layup. At that point, the score was 44-39 in favor of PLU, and it was game on.
While Pacific Lutheran never did fall behind, Linfield kept it close until its late-game scoring drought.
Earnest finished the game with 16 points in 4-for-6 shooting from beyond the three-point line and now has 1,010 career points. Isaksen scored 14 points and Williams added a season-high 12 for the Lutes, who shot just 36 percent (20-for-56) from the field. Schilling tied Isaksen for team-high rebounding honors with eight, and he also finished with 10 points and six assists.
Brandon Harris was Linfield's only player in double figures, finishing the game with 10 points. He added six assists and tied Pine and Chris Dirks for team-high rebounding honors with five. The Wildcats shot 48 percent (20-for-42) overall but just 60 percent (12-for-20) at the free throw line.
PLU returns to conference action next weekend with games at Willamette on Friday and Pacific on Saturday.
- PLU -