Nov. 14, 2006

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Lutes Open Season At UPS Tip-Off Classic

THIS WEEK: The Lutes open their 2006-07 basketball campaign this Friday with a trip to the University of Puget Sound for the UPS Tip-Off Classic. PLU will play Menlo College at 4 p.m. on Friday and will play UC-Santa Cruz at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

OPPONENTS: Menlo College finished last season with a 17-11 record. They will bring plenty of height with them as eight of the Oaks are 6-4 and taller. The Oaks are also young, carrying four freshman and four sophomores. UC Santa Cruz, a NCAA Division III independent, finished last season with a 9-16 record. Joe Mercado is the Banana Slugs' top returning threat, averaging 8.5 points while shooting 42 percent from the beyond the arc last season.

OUTLOOK: PLU has been geared up to play ever since the promotion of Steve Dickerson to head coach last spring. Dickerson spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach and associate head coach for the Lutes. Dickerson is excited, too, as the Lutes have 10 returning players, including four starters from last seasons squad. PLU has gained plenty of talented youth with addition of seven new freshmen. The Lutes should be solid at the guard position with junior Landon Heidenreich, who averaged 5.2 points and 3.8 assists in 18 games for the PLU last season. Junior guard Andrew Mehalechko started 24 games last season and has been described by Coach Dickerson as the best defensive player on the team. PLU also has two other weapons at guard in Josh Dressler and Kurt Oliver. As a freshman last season, Dressler was third on the team in scoring with a 12.7 average while shooting 42 percent from behind the arc. Oliver returns to the team as another downtown threat after taking a year off. In the 2004-05 season, Oliver also shot 42 percent from three-point land and averaged 11.1 points per game. Senior wing Josh Vanlandingham averaged 13.2 points last season and is the leading returning scorer. Vanlandingham, who was an All-Northwest Conference honorable mention pick last season, is a very versatile player capable of wreaking havoc on both ends of the court. Look for the Lutes to be very physical down low as they carry over experienced players such as Matt Sinnes, Brian Misterek, Scott McDaniels and Norman Edwards Jr. The addition of transfer Jared Brandeberry will help as well. Sinnes has appeared in 22 games each of the last two seasons and Misterek is one of the best athletes on the team, says Dickerson. The Lutes bring experience to the table this year but also bring youth. Look for Beau Poppen-Abajian, Gabe Smith, Kyle Clearman, Jordan Juarez, and Matt Johnson to contribute this season as the Lutes look to cause some damage in their pursuit of a Northwest Conference title.

NEXT MATCH-UP: The Lutes will travel to Bellingham on November 28 to take on Division II regional power Western Washington University before they open up Northwest Conference play on December 1 and 2 with home match ups against Linfield and Willamette.

-PLU-