Jan. 23, 2007

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Lutes Head to Oregon for Two Games

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran will travel south to play Linfield College on Friday and Willamette University on Saturday. Both games will tip-off at 8 p.m.

Josh Dressler

WILDCATS AND LUTES SQUARE OFF: Linfield and Pacific Lutheran meet in McMinnville, Ore., to start the second half of the Northwest Conference schedule. The Lutes defeated the Wildcats, 85-79, on Dec. 1 to open up conference play. Sophomore guard Josh Dressler led the Lutes with 24 points while Evan Timperly scored 28 points for Linfield. The Wildcats are currently 6-11 overall and sit in last place in the conference with a 1-7 record. Linfield’s lone NWC win came last Friday with a 61-53 win over Pacific at home. Timperly is the only 'Cat scoring in double figures this season, averaging 17.5 points. Timperly is also averaging 4.1 rebounds a game and shooting 86 percent from the charity stripe. The Lutes lead the all-time series against Linfield, 66-49.

ABOUT WILLAMETTE: The Bearcats are sandwiched between the Lutes and Wildcats with a 7-10 overall record and 3-5 in the NWC. PLU defeated the Bearcats, 90-84, earlier this season on Dec. 2 in Olson Auditorium. Junior wing Jared Brandeberry led the Lutes with 25 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Dan Nugent and Michael Smith each scored 19 points in the Bearcat loss. Willamette plays host to Puget Sound on Friday and is coming off of an 89-80 victory over Whitman last Saturday. Nugent is leads the Bearcats in scoring, dropping 16 a game, while Smith averages 12.5. Although the Bearcats are struggling this season, they do lead the Northwest Conference in blocked shots, averaging 4.12 a game, and are tops in free-throw shooting percentage at 75.1 percent.

LUTES SPLIT HOMESTAND: The PLU men returned home last weekend to host the George Fox Bruins and Pacific Boxers in Northwest Conference action. The Lutes split the homestand, losing to the Bruins, 77-68 on Friday, and rebounding with a 69-67 come-from-behind victory over Pacific on Saturday. Against George Fox, the Lutes battled but the Bruins shot 52 percent from the field compared to the Lutes 37.9 percent. Chris Parker scored a career-high 32 points for GFU and Brent Satern chipped in 17 points for the Bruin victory. The Lutes took their biggest lead of the game, 28-21, on a three-point field goal by Dressler with 4:33 remaining in the first half but the Bruins closed out the half with a 12-3 run. The Bruins maintained their lead through most of the second period, though Pacific Lutheran did take a 47-45 advantage on Scott McDaniels layup with 13:44 to play in the game. George Fox responded with the next eight points and never looked back. Brandeberry scored 19 points and Kurt Oliver added 11 for the Lutes. Pacific Lutheran responded the following night with an important 69-67 win over Pacific (8-8, 4-4 NWC). McDaniels came alive for the Lutes, scoring a career high 27 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. With the win the Lutes move to 7-8 overall and 4-4 in the Northwest Conference. The Boxers, who rallied from a 10-2 deficit six minutes into the game, stretched their 31-29 halftime lead into a 43-34 lead with 14:19 left to play in the contest. PLU slowly whittled away at its deficit and, trailing 47-39, went on a 13-2 run to take the lead at 52-49 with 8:03 on the clock. Senior guard Lawrence Brooks, who had a big game off the bench with 12 points, scored three points while McDaniels hit three layups to spur the charge. The Boxers had a 65-64 lead with one minute left until Brooks slipped through the defense and laid the ball into the basket for the Lute lead. PLU held off Pacific with two free throws from Brandeberry and one from McDaniels. Josh Vanlandingham chipped in 14 points for the Lutes.

Scott McDaniels

McDANIELS COMES ALIVE: Scott McDaniels had a big weekend for the Lutes, scoring 10 points and grabbing four rebounds in 17 minutes of action on Friday and helping propel PLU to a victory on Saturday when he scored 27 points, snagged 17 rebounds and blocked two shots in 28 minutes. McDaniels hit 10-of-12 shots in Saturday’s win and was a force to be reckoned under the basket, grabbing clutch rebounds in key moments of the game against Pacific. For his outstanding work, McDaniels earned NWC Player of the Week honorable mention recognition. McDaniels is averaging 9.8 points and 6.5 rebounds a game this season.

FOLLOW THE LUTES ON THE ROAD: Follow the Lutes in action this weekend by listening to games on KLAY 1180 AM. The broadcasts will also be on the worldwide web at www.klay1180.com. PLU is proud to have Hall of Fame sports broadcaster Bob Robertson calling Lute women’s and men’s basketball contests.

-PLU-