Jan. 26, 2008

Howe's Career Night Leads Pacific Past Lutes, 94-85

Box Score

Josh Dressler - 999 career points

FOREST GROVE - Garold Howe exploded in the first half and continued where he left off in the second, scoring 40 points Saturday and leading Pacific past Pacific Lutheran, 94-85, in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Pacific Athletic Center.

Howe was nearly unstoppable for the Boxers (6-11, 4-4 NWC), scoring 26 points in the first half and 14 more in the final period, shooting 16-for-19 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from both the foul line and three-point range. His 16 made field goals broke Pacific's single-game record, bettering a 15-shot performance by Brett Jefferies against Corban during the 1994-95 season.

For the second straight night, Pacific Lutheran rallied from a big second half deficit only to come up on the short end of the final score. Last night, PLU fell behind Linfield by 23 points and cut its deficit to eight points late before losing 89-78. Tonight, the Lutes simply didn't have an answer for an impressive Pacific offense. The Boxers shot a season-best 66 percent (33-for-50) from the floor and also established a new season high in three-point shooting at 58 percent (7-for-12). The Boxers also made 21 of their 27 attempts from the free throw line. Pacific Lutheran (8-8, 4-4 NWC) shot 48 percent (32-for-66) and stayed competitive from long-range by shooting 38 percent (12-for-31).

Howe opened the game on fire, scoring Pacific's first 15 points and going 7-for-7 from the field with one three-pointer in the process. When Howe's near-perfect half was over, he had shot 11-for-13 from the field, going 2-for-2 on three-point attempts and 2-for-2 from the free throw line for a total of 26 points. The half ended, however, on a 35-foot three pointer from Jared Brandeberry, bringing the Lutes within nine, 53-44.

Pacific Lutheran came close to an exciting comeback, whittling what had been a 16-point Pacific lead eight minutes into the second half down to four, 89-85, with 34 seconds remaining on a free throw by Josh Dressler. The Boxers got the ball into Howe's hands, however, and he was fouled. He sank both free throws and the Lutes never scored again.

Joe Van Domelen and Donnie Harrison-Davis backed up Howe's highlight-reel night with 21 and 17 points, respectively.

Dressler, the conference's second-leading scorer, paced the Lutes with 20 points and now has 999 in his PLU career. With his next point, he will become the 21st player in PLU men's basketball history to score at least 1,000 points. Joining Dressler in double-figure scoring were Landon Heidenreich with 17, Brandeberry with 16, Gabe Smith with 14 and Scott McDaniels with 11.

(Courtesy of Pacific University Sports Information Office)