By Nick Barene, Sports Writer
The men’s basketball team earned its second victory of the year with a 67-49 win over Trinity at the Doug McArthur Classic, which was hosted by Puget Sound.
The Lutes shot nearly 50 percent from the floor on their way to a decisive victory. Twelve different Lutes scored points for the team, and guard Daniel Landram, a junior, led the team with 12 points. Fellow guard Arvid Isaksen, a senior, paced the team with 12 rebounds.
The Trinity Tigers actually led early in the game, leading 13-6 just eight minutes into the contest. For those first eight minutes, the Lutes shot just 32 percent from the field. Then, Pacific Lutheran University caught fire.
The Lutes scored 12 of the next 17 points, and fought to take a 26-24 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, Trinity pulled within three points, threatening to take the lead. The Lutes slammed the door shut though, going on a 13-point run and didn’t look back.
“Playing 12 guys against Trinity as efficiently as we did tells me that we have some very good depth,” head coach Steve Dickerson said.
Player Jonathan Wilt led Trinity in both points and rebounds with 11 and eight, respectively. PLU held Trinity to just 33.3 percent shooting (18-of-54) and managed to out-rebound the Tigers 44-to-26.
Dickerson said he was pleased with the all-around effort of his squad.
“It was a total team effort this past weekend, and that was the impressive part,” Dickerson said.
The Lutes improve to 2-0 on the season, while Trinity falls to 0-2. The Lutes will face a challenging Northwest University squad in a non-conference matchup in Kirkland Tuesday. The Lutes will open home play Nov. 29 against St. Mary’s (Minn.) and will begin Northwest Conference play Jan. 3.
