Jan. 9, 2007

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Lutes Travel East Across the Cascades

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran will travel to Eastern Washington to play Whitman at 8 p.m. Friday and Whitworth at 8 p.m. Saturday.

MISSIONARIES HOST LUTES: Whitman and Pacific Lutheran will square off for the first time this season in Walla Walla. The Lutes come into the game with an overall record of 5-6 and a 2-2 Northwest Conference record, while the Missionaries are 4-8 overall and 1-3 in Northwest Conference games. Whitman is coming off a split from last weekend when they traveled to Oregon. The Missionaries fell to George Fox, 77-63, and responded the following night by defeating Linfield in a close 90-88 conference victory. Whitman is led by senior forward Kyle Born, who is averaging 22.6 points, 10.3 rebounds and shooting nearly 60 percent from the field. Born recently tied a conference record when he scored an amazing 53 points against the University of Redlands. Born tied the conference record previously held by former Northwest Conference player and NBA legend Elgin Baylor when he played for Albertson College, formerly known as College of Idaho. Senior guard Ian Warner is also an important asset for Whitman. He is playing over 33 minutes game and averaging 10.8 points, 4.8 assists, and 4.2 rebounds a game.

ABOUT WHITWORTH: The Pirates will prove to be a tough challenge for PLU. Whitworth is currently ranked No. 6 in the d3hoops.com poll and posts an impressive 13-0 overall record and a 4-0 Northwest Conference record. The Pirates host Puget Sound on Friday in a game in which both teams will be competing for the conference lead, so the Lutes look to sneak up on Whitworth on Saturday. All five starters on the Pirate squad are averaging double figures in points and four of them are shooting over 50 percent from the field. Junior forward Ryan Symes is averaging 14.7 points, 5.5 rebounds a game and shooting over 60 percent from the floor. As a team, Whitworth is beating their opponents by more than 20 points a game, scoring on average 79.2 points and holding their challengers to just 58.8 points a game.

LUTES DROP TWO CONFERENCE GAMES: Pacific Lutheran fell to 2-2 in Northwest Conference action last week as they were defeated Wednesday by cross-town rival UPS, 108-96, and Friday by Lewis & Clark, 102-76. Against UPS, the Lutes started the game with a 10-2 burst, but the Loggers eventually took their first lead of the game, 21-20, at the 12:13 mark. PLU battled back and regained the lead at 41-40 on a three-pointer by junior point guard Landon Heidenreich (Vancouver, Wash. / Skyview HS) with 5:15 left in the half, but once the Loggers regained the lead at 43-41 on a jumper by Antwan Williams, they never again trailed. PLU sophomore guard Josh Dressler (Vancouver, Wash. / Portland Lutheran HS) took scoring honors with 31 points, including 18 in the first half. Heidenreich finished the game with 16 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds for the Lutes, who also got 15 points and eight rebounds from junior wing Jared Brandeberry (Cashmere, Wash. / Wenatchee Valley CC), 13 points and nine rebounds from junior post Scott McDaniels (Sammamish, Wash. / Eastlake HS), and 12 points from senior wing Josh Vanlandingham (Snohomish, Wash. / Everett CC). After a few days off, PLU traveled to Oregon to play the L&C Pioneers. The Pioneers opened up the game on a 7-0 run, capped by a three-pointer by Joey Toboni. The Lutes tied the game, 11-11, on a Vanlandingham jumper in the paint. The two teams traded leads until the Pioneers’ hit a three for a 40-36 lead, putting the Pioneers ahead for good. Another Pio three made it a 46-40 contest at the half. The second half was all Lewis & Clark with the Pioneers outscoring PLU by 20 after the break. Dressler led the Lutes with 19 points. Heidenreich had 10 points and four rebounds and McDaniels scored 12 while pulling in five rebounds.

ROAD WOES: The Lutes are 0-4 on the road this season and would like nothing better than to improve away from Olson Auditorium where they are 3-2. The Lutes, by the way, are 2-0 in neutral court games. PLU is averaging 63.5 points on the road, 13 below their season scoring average.

HEIDENREICH ALL OVER THE FLOOR: Landon Heidenreich is on top of several categories for PLU and is a major asset to the PLU squad. Heidenreich plays nearly 34.5 minutes a game while averaging 11.2 points, 5.4 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals a contest for the Lutes. Heidenreich also ranks first in the Northwest Conference in assists per game at 7.25, fourth in steals at 2.0, eighth in field goal percentage at 58 percent, and ninth in rebounding, grabbing 6.0 rebounds in NWC action.

DREESLER HEATING UP: In the five games since his shoulder injury in early December, Josh Dressler is averaging 23.0 points a game and shooting 42 percent from behind the arc. Prior to the injury, Dressler was just shooting 21 percent from the three point land. Dressler averages 20.8 points a game to lead the Lutes and is second in conference scoring with a 21.0 average.

NEXT HOME GAMES: The PLU men return to action in the Big O, Olson Auditorium, on Friday Jan. 19 as they host George Fox at 8 p.m. The following night, the Lutes host the Pacific Boxers with another 8 p.m. tipoff.

-PLU-