Lutes Return Home After First Win, Honor Slain Lakewood Police Officers

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran (1-4) hosts Northwest University (5-4), Saturday, 7:00 p.m., in Olson Auditorium.

GAME BENEFITS POLICE OFFICERS: Proceeds from donations at the gate, and the sales of concessions and specially made T-shirts at PLU's home game against Northwest University will be donated to the Lakewood Police Independent Guild (LPIG) in memory of the slain officers. There will be no charge for admission into the game, but spectators are encouraged to donate to the LPIG fund.

ABOUT THE EAGLES: Through nine games this season, Northwest has averaged 73.3 points on offense and has given up an average of 70.3 points on defense. Blake Solomon leads the Eagles in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game to lead a quartet of double-digit scorers. Solomon also leads the team with a 2.6 assist/turnover ratio. Greg Peters and Greg George have dominated inside for Northwest, with each player posting more than eight rebounds per game and 53 percent shooting. As a team, the Eagles shoot .439 from the field, .333 from three-point range and .646. from the charity stripe. Northwest has already played two Northwest Conference teams this season, defeating Linfield, 79-59, at home and falling to Puget Sound at home, 86-85.

ABOUT THE LUTES: Pacific Lutheran has been the benchmark in the Northwest Conference in offensive efficiency through its first five games. The Lutes lead the NWC in both free throw percentage (.763) and field goal percentage (.444). PLU's struggles have been on defense, where the Lutes rank last in the league allowing a .530 shooting percentage. The Lutes have limited opponents to a league-low 31.4 rebounds per game, but PLU ranks last in rebounding offense with only 29 per game. The Lutes rank second in the conference with a 1.14 assist/turnover ratio. Victor Bull leads a balanced Pacific Lutheran offense in scoring with 11.8 points per game, with Kyle MacTaggart (11.4), Curtis Trondsen (10.8) and James Conti (9.8) also ranking in the Northwest Conference top-30 scorers.

LUTES EARN FIRST WIN: Pacific Lutheran parlayed an 18-4 run during the middle of the second half on Saturday night to record its first men's basketball victory of the season, a 67-63 non-conference decision over host Northwest Christian University. After Erik Quick-Warner's free throw gave the Beacons a 49-39 lead with 13:12 remaining in the second half, the Lutes scored 18 of the next 24 points to take a 57-53 lead with 6:26 left. Andrew Earnest and Curtis Trondsen both knocked down a pair of three-point shots to highlight the run. Northwest Christian regained the lead by two points with 1:57 left, but James Conti tied it with a pair of free throws with 1:37 remaining. NWC's Andrew Miller scored to give his team a 63-61 lead, but PLU's Trondsen took a feed from Conti with 11 seconds left and drilled a jumper to tie the score. At the same time that Trondsen was shooting, Conti was fouled, and the sophomore point guard drained a pair of free throws to put the Lutes on top, 65-63. The Beacons had an opportunity to tie the game inside the final five seconds, but Victor Bull forced a turnover, was fouled and hit both foul shots with three seconds left for the final margin.

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