und men’s basketball team played host to second ranked and unbeaten Whitworth. Despite a stellar second half effort, the Loggers were unable to hand the Pirates their first defeat of the season.
The team came out hot and jumped on Whitworth early. The Pirates, however, showed poise befitting the nation’s number two team, and once they took the lead at the 14 minute mark they never let it go, building a 43-30 halftime lead.
The Loggers played the Pirates even in the second half, thanks in large part to the 30 points from their bench, including a career high 16 from freshman Ryan Hoff (Edmonds, Wash.). They matched Whitworth point for point but couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole they had dug in the first half.
Juniors Kaleb Shelton (Tacoma, Wash.) and Ryan Rogers (Tacoma, Wash.) each added 13 points for the Loggers.
Looking to bounce back from the loss to Whitworth, the Loggers faced another tough opponent on Saturday when Whitman stepped onto the Field House court. Unfortunately they fell behind early once again and couldn’t quite catch up, falling by a final score of 70-62.
The Loggers played tough defense all night, holding the Missionaries under 30 percent shooting from the field. Whitman made up for their poor shooting from the floor by consistently drawing fouls on their Loggers defenders. They repeatedly earned trips to the free throw line where they converted 31 of 35 attempts.
Despite holding the home court advantage the Loggers couldn’t seem to buy a whistle all night; they finished with only nine made free throws. The team was led by the continued strong play of Rogers, who nailed six three-pointers on his way to 18 points, and Shelton, who finished with a 17-points, 8-rebound double double.
The Loggers face conference foes PLU and Linfield at home this week.