PARKLAND, Wash.- The Pacific University men's basketball dropped a contest 74-72 on Friday night against Pacific Lutheran. The game was a tightly contested over all 40 minutes including seven lead changes and the largest lead that either team held was 10 points.
 
Pacific (6-12, NWC 2-7) was led by Jared Cattell (Senior/Bremerton, WA) who scored 20 points on the night by going 4-5 from three-point range. The Boxers found success on the offensive end from the free throw stripe shooting 10-12 (83.3%).
 
Pacific Lutheran (12-6, NWC 7-2) had an efficient night from the floor shooting 24-47 (51.1%) while also finding success on the glass out rebounding the Boxers 35-19. The Lutes used a balanced scoring attack with five players registering double digit points on the evening.
 
How It Happened
The Boxers opened the scoring in the contest going on a 6-0 run. Jacob Bolger (Junior/Portland, OR) converted his first two shot attempts to propel the quick start. The Lutes would respond to the run by scoring seven straight points. The Lutes and Boxers would trade baskets over the next six minutes before the Boxers opened the lead to 20-14 following a Cattell three-point field goal and an Isaiah Africano (Junior/Pearl City, HI) hook shot. The Lutes again would hole the Boxers scoreless over the next 2:12 and tie the game at 20 with 7:38 remaining in the half. The visitors from Forest Grove would make one final push the last seven minutes and would take a 36-28 lead to the halftime break.
 
Over the first five minutes in the second half the Lutes would outscore the Boxers 18-10 to tie the game at 46 a piece. The Boxers and Lutes would trade baskets before PLU would take a 59-52 lead which would be the largest lead of the game for the Lutes. The Boxers would battle back again never letting the Lutes get out of reach keeping their come from behind hopes alive. The Lutes would take a 72-69 lead with 18 seconds left forcing a 30 second timeout to be called by Justin Lunt to try and draw up a game tying three-pointer. Out of the timeout the Boxers were able to draw up a play in which Cattell would be fouled while shooting a three-pointer sending him to the line with an attempt to tie the game. Cattell would convert the first two free throws before PLU would call a timeout of their own to draw up. Cattell, not rattled by the break between his second and third free throws would convert the last free throw tying the game at 72. Lute guard Seth Hall did not want to see overtime tonight and drove the length of the floor in six seconds converting a layup leaving the Boxers with 0.7 seconds left to try and create a scoring attempt. The half court heave would fall short from the Boxers giving the Lutes a 74-72 victory.
 
By The Numbers

• Lucas Winkler (Freshman/Portland, OR) handed out a game high 8 assists.
• Mario Mora (Senior/Bend, OR) and Cattell combined for 7 of the Boxers 8 three-point baskets.
• The Boxers had 13 different players register minutes in the contest

 
Up Next
The Boxers return home tomorrow night (Jan. 29^th) for a contest against George Fox with a scheduled tipoff at 6 PM from inside the Stoller Center. The last time these two teams met it was a two-point contest on Dec. 3^rd.
 
For the latest information on Pacific Athletics, make sure to check out GoBoxers.com. You can also find the Boxers on social media at @GoBoxers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
#GoBoxers
  Read Full Article