Ricker scored 16 in the second half, and knocked down six of 12 from the floor while converting all seven of his free-throw opportunities during the game. Casey Nelson also scored in double figures, with 12, and grabbed nine rebounds. Erik Kofler played some solid minutes off the bench, and finished with five points and seven rebounds.
Four players scored in double figures for the Lutes, led by Sudon DeSuze with 16. Michael Jacobs had a double-double, finishing with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Rounding out the four were Jonathan Anderson with 11 points and Drew Cardall with 10. Jake Lipscomb had six points while taking in 10 rebounds.
The teams traded baskets early on, and the score was tied 11-11 with 14 minutes to play in the half. The Lutes scored the next four, and extended their lead to 24-17 with 8:28 left. The Missionaries fell behind by 10 at the 3:37 mark, and went into the half down 36-27. Pacific Lutheran opened up the second half on a 5-0 run before Greg Caldwell knocked down a trey to make it 41-30. Caldwell sparked a 12-2 run as Whitman pulled within four. Pacific Lutheran responded with an 8-0 run of its own, taking a 51-39 lead with just under 12 minutes left. With 5:11 remaining, Whitman faced its largest deficit, at 15, but pulled within five in the final minute before losing, 77-71.
Whitman, the conference leader in shooting percentage, struggled against the Lutes as it hit just 31.7 percent from the floor. In a game that saw 51 fouls called, the Missionaries hit 24 of 32 from the charity stripe, while the Lutes converted on 20 of 36.
Whitman plays two conference games on the road next weekend, taking on Linfield on Friday and Pacific on Saturday. Pacific Lutheran returns home to play Willamette and Lewis & Clark.
Pacific Lutheran vs Whitman 2/14/04 8:00pm at Walla Walla, Wash. (Sherwood Center) At Walla Walla, Wash. (Sherwood Center) PACIFIC LUTHERAN 77, WHITMAN 71 PACIFIC LUTHERAN (5-16, 2-10) DeSuze, Sudon 7-12 1-3 16; Jacobs, Michael 5-11 5-7 15; Anderson, Jonathan 5-8 1-3 11; Cardwell, Drew 3-5 4-6 10; Heutink, Jason 0-2 9-14 9; Lipscomb, Jake 3-5 0-0 6; Pasquariello, Jason 3-6 0-3 6; Lowery, Scott 2-4 0-0 4; Oliver, Kurt 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 20-36 77. WHITMAN (6-15, 2-10) Ricker, Greg 6-12 7-7 21; Nelson, Casey 3-8 6-8 12; Pounds, Jacob 3-9 3-3 9; Caldwell, Greg 2-7 0-0 6; Will, Cale 2-11 0-0 6; Kofler, Erik 2-5 1-5 5; Dalvit, Kyle 1-4 3-4 5; Peterson, Mike 1-3 2-2 5; Born, Kyle 0-1 2-2 2; Airy, Matt 0-3 0-1 0. Totals 20-63 24-32 71. Pacific Lutheran.............. 36 41 - 77 Whitman....................... 27 44 - 71 3-point goals-Pacific Lutheran 1-7 (DeSuze, Sudon 1-1; Anderson, Jonathan 0-1; Heutink, Jason 0-1; Pasquariello, Jason 0-1; Oliver, Kurt 0-3), Whitman 7-29 (Caldwell, Greg 2-4; Will, Cale 2-8; Ricker, Greg 2-4; Peterson, Mike 1-3; Airy, Matt 0-3; Kofler, Erik 0-2; Pounds, Jacob 0-4; Nelson, Casey 0-1). Fouled out--Pacific Lutheran-None, Whitman-Ricker, Greg; Caldwell, Greg. Rebounds-Pacific Lutheran 48 (Lipscomb, Jake 10; Jacobs, Michael 10), Whitman 38 (Nelson, Casey 9). Assists-Pacific Lutheran 15 (DeSuze, Sudon 4), Whitman 10 (Ricker, Greg 4). Total fouls-Pacific Lutheran 23, Whitman 28. A-150