Lester’s hot first half leads PLU past Pacific, 73-61
If you hooked Brandon Lester up to a polygraph, the real truth might come out.
The junior from Eastlake still considers himself a point guard.
But this season at Pacific Lutheran University, coach Steve Dickerson has moved Lester off the point and to the wing where he has the freedom to do one thing well — score.
Lester sparked a frantic run after a first-half offensive malaise by scoring 14 of his game-high 22 points in the final 8 minutes, 8 seconds, and the Lutes snapped their three-game skid with a, 73-61, victory against Pacific on Saturday at Olson Auditorium.
Not surprisingly in those final minutes of the first half, Lester got his hands on the basketball, was allowed to dribble around the perimeter and decide how to attack.
He sank three 3-pointers.
And he converted a dashing three-point play in the lane.
“I like playing both (positions),” Lester said with a smile. “I like having the ball in my hands to have the freedom to make big plays.”
At one point, PLU (10-5, 3-3 in NWC) trailed 26-18 midway through the first half before Lester got cooking.
And the Lutes put the finishing touches on this win with lockdown defense, holding the Boxers scoreless for a 6:24 span in the second half while going on a 13-0 run.
“These are kids who have scraped and battled for two or three years as the underdog. Now all of a sudden … we haven’t been used to the expectations,” Dickerson said. “We got back to playing like we can play — defensively.”
Jared Christy and Bryce Miller added 12 points apiece for the Lutes.
At Puget Sound 76, Linfield 61: Carlos Mancasola led the Loggers with 16 points, including three 3-pointers, and Kohl Meyer chipped in with 15 in a victory at Memorial Fieldhouse.
The Loggers (9-6, 4-2) made 14 3-pointers in winning for the fifth time in the past six games.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Pacific 62, at PLU 53: Karli McHone made six 3-pointers, including a final one from the left corner with 7:25 to go that sent the Boxers to a victory at Olson Audistorim.
After holding a 45-43 lead with 2:30 to go in the third quarter, PLU went 12 minutes without a field goal.
McHone, a guard, tallied 17 of her team’s first 24 points, including five 3-pointers in the first 14 minutes. She finished with a game-high 29 points.
The Lutes split the homestand series without injured point guard Megan Abdo (head).
At UPS 77, Linfield 54: Alexis Noren paced the Loggers with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and UPS moved into a tie for third place with a win in Tacoma.
Emily Sheldon (17 points, 10 rebounds) recorded her fourth double-double of the season.
This story was originally published January 16, 2016 at 10:08 PM with the headline "Lester’s hot first half leads PLU past Pacific, 73-61."