News Release

TACOMA, Wash. — Pacific Lutheran outscored Whitworth 37-29 in the second half to defeat the Pirates 69-64 in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game in Olson Auditorium. The win gave the Lutes a sweep of this weekend's conference games; PLU defeated Whitman 67-64 on Friday.

The Lutes improved to 5-8 overall, 3-1 in the conference. PLU's conference record is their best start since the 1999-2000 season, when the Lutes won their first four league counters. Whitworth slipped to 5-7 overall, 1-3 in the conference.

Whitworth built a nine-point lead, 22-13, with 10:56 left in the first half. The Lutes battled back and grabbed a 23-22 advantage on Mike Torbenson's lay-up with 7:51 left.

The Pirates regained the lead on their next possession on Jon Young's three-pointer and held a 35-32 lead at halftime.

Whitworth increased their lead to 10 points, 49-39, with 15:32 remaining. Again the Lutes rallied, taking a 52-51 lead on Kurt Oliver's three-pointer with 9:54 left.

Oliver hit a jumper with 2:44 left for a 63-62 Lute lead. Drew Cardwell's lay-up and two free throws by Landon Heidenreich put the Lutes in front 67-62 with 24 seconds remaining. George Tucker hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds left to pull Whitworth to within three with 15 seconds left, but Heidenreich clinched the win when he made two more foul shots with nine seconds left.

Torbenson led PLU with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Cardwell finished with 15 points and 7 boards, Oliver tallied 12 points and Heidenreich 11.

Young scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds, Tucker had 16 points and Bryan Williams 13 for the Pirates.

Newspaper Box Score
Whitworth vs Pacific Lutheran
01/15/05 8:00 p.m. at Tacoma, Wash. (Olson Auditorium)
At Tacoma, Wash. (Olson Auditorium)
PACIFIC LUTHERAN 69, WHITWORTH 64
WHITWORTH (5-7, 1-3 NWC)
Young, Jon 6-18 0-0 17; Tucker, George 6-11 4-6 16; Williams, Bryan 5-13 0-0
13; Pecht, Lance 4-9 0-0 8; Bennett, Adam 2-3 0-1 4; Larkin, Mike 2-4 0-0 4;
Jones, J.J. 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 6-9 64.
PACIFIC LUTHERAN (5-8, 3-1 NWC)
Torbenson, Michael 9-13 0-0 19; Cardwell, Drew 6-14 3-4 15; Oliver, Kurt
5-11 0-2 12; Heidenreich, Landon 2-3 6-6 11; Carstensen, Jake 3-6 0-0 8;
Stark, John 1-5 0-0 2; Lipscomb, Jake 1-3 0-2 2; Ash, Gabe 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
27-56 9-14 69.
Whitworth.....................   35   29  -   64
Pacific Lutheran..............   32   37  -   69
3-point goals-Whitworth 8-29 (Young, Jon 5-17; Williams, Bryan 3-9; Pecht,
Lance 0-3), Pacific Lutheran 6-16 (Carstensen, Jake 2-5; Oliver, Kurt 2-5;
Heidenreich, Landon 1-1; Torbenson, Michael 1-3; Cardwell, Drew 0-2). Fouled
out--Whitworth-None, Pacific Lutheran-None. Rebounds-Whitworth 33 (Young,
Jon 10), Pacific Lutheran 37 (Torbenson, Michael 8). Assists-Whitworth 7
(Williams, Bryan 3), Pacific Lutheran 10 (Heidenreich, Landon 3). Total
fouls-Whitworth 16, Pacific Lutheran 11. A-500