Lutes Fall to Ripon at Platteville Tournament

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. - Victor Bull scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds but it wasn't enough on Saturday as Pacific Lutheran dropped an 81-75 men's basketball decision to Ripon at the UW-Platteville Thanksgiving Classic.

The Lutes (0-3) took an eight-point lead in the first three minutes, but Ripon (2-1) went on an 11-3 run to tie the score at 17-17 with 13:26 left in the half. By the time the first half was over, Ripon had moved ahead by a 36-32 score.

When Bull hit a layup five minutes into the second half, the Lutes had tied the score at 45-45, and PLU took a 47-45 lead less than a minute later when Bull tipped in a missed shot. The Lutes held the lead until about five minutes remaining when Aris Wurz hit a three-point shot to put Ripon on top, 67-64.

Pacific Lutheran later tied the game with about three minutes remaining on a basket by Kyle MacTaggart, but it was unable to regain the lead. Wurz scored nine of his team's final 11 points to keep Ripon on top.

MacTaggart added 14 points, six blocks, three assists and three steals, and Tony Polis contributed 11 points and six assists for Pacific Lutheran, which made 44 percent of its field goal attempts (29-of-66). Polis made all three of his three-point field goal attempts as the Lutes finished with 47 percent accuracy (9-of-19).

Wurz led all players with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Taylor Koth made 9-of-12 shots on the way to 19 points for the winners. Scott Gillespie added 14 points for Ripon, which made 55 percent of its shots (35-of-64).

Pacific Lutheran returns to action on Sunday afternoon when it plays the host school at the UW-Platteville Thanksgiving Classic.

- PLU -