Complete box score

TACOMA, Wash. – Despite cutting a 14-point second-half deficit to four with less than two minutes to play, visiting Whitworth lost 81-71 to sixth-ranked Puget Sound on Friday night in a men’s Northwest Conference matchup.

Tim Sellereit

Tim Sellereit (Sr., G, Bellingham, Wash.) led the Pirates in scoring with 19 points. Calvin Jurich (Sr., C, Spokane, Wash.) had 17 points, and Nate Montgomery (Sr., C, Sammamish, Wash.) contributed 14 points and nine rebounds. David Riley (So., F, Palo Alto, Calif.) also put up 12 points for Whitworth, which shot 39.4% (26-66) from the field for the night.

Robert Krauel scored 19 points for Puget Sound, shooting 6-12 behind the arc. Jason Foster had a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds and also put up nine blocks against the Pirate offense, and Antwan Williams put in 10 points. The Loggers shot 12-27 (44.4%) from the three-point line and 25-58 (43.1%) from the field.

Sellereit and Ross Nakamura (Sr., G, Moraga, Calif.) each had a three as the teams traded baskets to an 18-18 tie with 11:28 left in the first half. But the Loggers outscored the Pirates 14-0 over the next five minutes, a run that ultimately decided the game. UPS was up 32-18 with 6:27 left before Montgomery scored again for the Pirates. Whitworth cut the lead back to nine before Foster’s put-back dunk gave UPS a 38-27 halftime lead.

Montgomery answered Foster with a dunk of his own to open the scoring for the second half, and five points by Jurich brought Whitworth within four at the 17:51 mark. Yet in the next three minutes, the Loggers hit four threes, two of them by Bryce Levin, to gain a 52-38 lead. Later in the half Riley scored his only three of the night and Sellereit claimed a jumper as Whitworth came back once again to within 74-70 with under 1:50 left after Montgomery’s inside basket. But UPS made 5-6 free throws in the final minute to secure the win 81-71.

Puget Sound (20-2 overall, 13-0 NWC) clinched the regular season NWC title and hosts Whitman on Saturday. Whitworth (17-5, 9-4) resumes playing for second place and will take on Pacific Lutheran on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.