It is sometimes like pulling teeth for Pacific Lutheran men’s basketball coach Steve Dickerson to get junior shooting guard Andrew Earnest to, well, shoot.
But Earnest was not shy about the task Wednesday.
Earnest drilled a career-high eight 3-pointers – one away from Erik Peterson’s single-game school record – and the Lutes rallied for a 74-62 victory over Redlands University in their opening game at the National Invitational Basketball Tournament in San Antonio.
Redlands, the reigning SCIAC champion, went up 40-34 on Brian Kuklok’s 3-pointer early in the second half. But PLU responded with a 13-4 run, capped by an Earnest 3-pointer, and never trailed again.
The junior’s final 3-pointer came at the 3 minute, 15 second mark, giving the Lutes a 65-52 lead. He finished with 28 points.
“I’ve seen guys make eight (3-pointers) in a row, but not … at our school. And considering the game and the situation, he shot really well,” Dickerson said. “We have discussed with him that what he conceives as a bad shot are shots we want him to take. He needs to be more selfish. Hopefully tonight helped somewhat.”
Kai Hoyt added 17 points for PLU (5-5), and Cameron Schilling added 13 in helping snap the Lutes’ three-game losing streak.
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