News Release

SPOKANE, Wash. — Puget Sound remained atop the Northwest Conference men's basketball standings Friday night with a hard-fought 69-63 victory over the host Whitworth Pirates at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

The Loggers, who came into the game ranked No. 7 in the d3hoops.com NCAA Division III national poll, improve to 10-1 in the Northwest Conference and 16-3 overall. Whitworth, meanwhile, dropped its third consecutive game and is now 4-7 in the conference and 8-11 for the season.

The score was close throughout the first half until the Loggers went on a 10-4 run in the final 4:52, turning a 22-19 deficit into a 29-26 halftime lead. Weston Wood hit his second three-point basket of the period to highlight the run.

The Loggers never lost the lead, though Whitworth did pull to within one point in the opening minutes of the second half. The remainder of the game turned into a series of runs. Puget Sound surged ahead by 10 points, 45-35, with 12:41 to play, but Whitworth answered with five consecutive points. The Loggers came right back, scoring three baskets on second-chance possessions, capped by Zack McVey's dunk, to retake a 51-41 advantage.

Whitworth had another run, a 9-2 spurt, to cut the deficit to 53-50. The Loggers were up to the task and responded with eight straight points, including a three-point field goal by Jeremy Cross, to go ahead 61-50, its largest lead. Though Whitworth crawled back to within five points, Cross hit six free throws in the final 45 seconds to put the game away.

Cross led both teams in scoring with 20 points, while teammate McVey had 15 points. Lance Pecht and Jon Young both scored 18 points for Whitworth, which also got 17 points from George Tucker.

Both teams play tomorrow night, Whitworth hosting Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound traveling to Walla Walla to play Whitman.