Jan. 2, 2007

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Lutes, Loggers Renew Cross-Town Rivalry

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran hosts Puget Sound, Wednesday, 8 p.m.; PLU at Lewis & Clark, Friday, 8 p.m.

LUTES, LOGGERS RENEW RIVALRY: The Lutes will have their hands full on Wednesday night when the Puget Sound Loggers come to Olson Auditorium to renew the cross-town rivalry. The Loggers have won three consecutive Northwest Conference championships and advanced at least as far at the Round of 16 in the NCAA Division III men’s national tournament. The Loggers accomplished all of that under coach Eric Bridgeland, who has since left to take an assistant coaching job with NCAA Division I Pepperdine. He has been replaced by former UPS assistant Justin Lunt, himself a Pacific Lutheran University graduate. The Loggers’ up-tempo, full-court pressure style hasn’t changed under Lunt, and neither have the results. UPS comes into Olson Auditorium with a 9-1 overall record. One thing that the Lutes and Loggers have in common is their Northwest Conference record – both teams are 2-0 and tied with Whitworth atop the NWC standings. Evidence of the Loggers’ up-tempo style is that they average 113.7 points per game and give up 96.3. In addition, their pressure defense forces an average of 32.3 turnovers per game. Forward Jason Foster leads UPS with an average of 20.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, but a total of six UPS players average in double figures. Rounding out that list are forward Robert Krauel (16.5), guard Ryan DeLong (15.9), guard Antwan Williams (13.3), guard Taylor Marsh (12.1) and guard Curtis Medved (11.0). Puget Sound has defeated Pacific Lutheran seven straight times, including last season’s 102-76 win at Memorial Fieldhouse and 96-76 decision at Olson Auditorium. The last PLU win in the series came on Jan. 24, 2003, when the Lutes beat the Loggers, 49-46, in Olson Auditorium.

ABOUT LEWIS & CLARK: The Lutes have had some close games against Lewis & Clark in recent years, though they have lost three straight to the Pioneers. Last year, for instance, the Pioneers won 94-92 in overtime and 82-75. The last PLU win in the series came by a 68-59 count in Portland during the 2004-05 season. This season, the Pioneers are 6-4 overall and 1-1 in the Northwest Conference. They have twice defeated Evergreen State (by 20 and 16 points), a team that beat PLU by five points in Olson Auditorium on Dec. 16. Guard Mark Robinowitz leads the Pioneers in scoring (13.7 average), followed by Joey Toboni (13.3) and David Berggren (12.6). Lewis & Clark loves to hoist from long range as it averages almost 11 three-point field goals per game while averaging 31 long ball attempts per contest.

LUTES SPLIT NON-CONFERENCE GAMES: Pacific Lutheran split a pair of non-conference games during the Christmas break. On Wednesday, Dec. 27, Concordia defeated Pacific Lutheran, 88-65, in Portland, Ore. PLU senior wing Josh Vanlandingham (Snohomish, Wash. / Everett CC) scored 30 points to lead the Lutes, hitting 12-of-25 field goal attempts, including 3-of-9 from three-point range, and converted all three of his free throws. Vanlandingham was one of the few Lutes who shot well from the field as PLU finished the game with 34 percent accuracy from the field, including 25 percent from beyond the three-point arc. In addition to leading PLU in scoring, Vanlandingham also paced the Lutes with nine rebounds. Junior post Scott McDaniels (Sammamish, Wash. / Eastlake HS) added eight rebounds and 10 points for PLU. The Cavaliers jumped out to an 11-4 lead, but Vanlandingham scored five straight points as the Lutes rallied to take a 12-11 advantage. The Cavaliers went on a 10-2 run to take a 21-14 lead with 11:32 remaining, but Pacific Lutheran closed the margin to three, 21-18, on Vanlandingham's three-pointer with 9:28 left. Concordia then scored 12 unanswered points to regain control. Concordia led 45-34 at halftime and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half. On Saturday night, Dec. 30, Pacific Lutheran broke away from a five-point halftime lead, outscoring visiting Puget Sound Christian College by 38 points in the second half to post a 105-62 victory in Olson Auditorium. The Anchors stayed in the game in the first half with hot three-point shooting, making 8-of-12 from long range. Meanwhile, PLU struggled from the floor, hitting just 38 percent of their shots, including 21 percent (3-of-14) from beyond the three-point line. In addition, the Lutes were just 8-of-20 from the free throw line in the opening period. In the second half, the Lutes pounded the ball inside and dominated in the rebound category. PLU shot 53 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes and also out-rebounded the visitors, 35-15, over the same period. Sophomore guard Josh Dressler (Vancouver, Wash. / Portland Lutheran HS) scored 19 of his game-high 29 points in the second half to lead PLU. McDaniels had 16 points and nine rebounds, and junior wing Brian Misterek (Gig Harbor, Wash. / Gig Harbor HS) added 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Lutes. Junior point guard Landon Heidenreich (Vancouver, Wash. / Skyview HS) had 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in the victory.

FIVE WINS BEFORE THE NEW YEAR: PLU’s win against Puget Sound Christian ended a four-game losing streak and also improved its season record to 5-4. While that may not seem remarkable, the five wins matches the win total compiled each of the previous two seasons when PLU had back-to-back 5-20 records. The 2005-06 Lutes struggled out of the blocks, losing their first eight games. Their fifth win didn’t come until their 22nd game on Feb. 10 at Whitman. The previous season, the Lutes started 2-8, and then ran off three straight wins, getting the fifth victory on Jan. 15 at home against Whitworth. With that in mind, it is clear that the 2006-07 Lutes are off to a solid start with the hope of much better things to come.

DRESSLER SHOULDERS THE LOAD: Josh Dressler injured his non-shooting (left) shoulder in an early December practice and was held out of PLU’s subsequent games against Portland State and Northwest games as a precaution. Since then, he has come back with several strong performances. He scored 28 against Evergreen State in his return, managed eight points against Concordia, and then went off for 29 against Puget Sound Christian. That’s an average of 21.7 points over three games. While his three-point shooting percentage so far this season (.288) is far below the accuracy he showed last season (.419), he is starting to warm up. During the recent three-game stretch he has hit .12-of-33 attempts (.364).

LUTE LEADERS: Josh Dressler leads four PLU players in double figures, averaging 19.6 points per game. He is joined by Josh Vanlandingham at 15.1, junior wing Jared Brandeberry (Cashmere, Wash. / Wenatchee Valley CC) at 11.6, and Landon Heidenreich at 10.8. Scott McDaniels leads the Lutes with 6.7 rebounds per game, while Heidenreich is second in rebounding with 5.9 per game and first in assists with 4.9 per contest.

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