Anthony Gittens is 6-foot-9 with long arms and the springy hops of a bunny rabbit.
Riggs Yarbro is 6-7 – stout and comes on like a mini-tank.
If you were Puget Sound men’s basketball coach Justin Lunt, what would you have done against a shorter, skinnier Pacific Lutheran team Tuesday night this late in the Northwest Conference season?
Indeed, the Loggers fed their sizable duo early, often and right to the end of their convincing 66-52 victory over the Lutes at Memorial Fieldhouse.
With the win, UPS (17-5, 9-4 in NWC) is in second place alone in the conference and in position to not only earn an NWC playoff spot, but also host a first-round game.
For the Lutes (10-12, 7-6), they need a sweep of the final three games – and possibly some help. They have lost three in a row – but none in the manner it all went down Tuesday.
This was what the Loggers intended to do a month ago in Parkland – and were promptly dismissed in an 80-62 defeat Jan. 10.
On Tuesday, Gittens was the force early, scoring nine of his team’s first 16 points. He finished with 19.
Yarbro came on later, and led all scorers with a season-high 20.
“I just thought we learned a lot from that first game,” Lunt said. “Our whole idea, we wanted to get the ball inside and utilize Anthony and Kaleb (Shelton-Johnson) and Riggs. I thought they did a great job.”
The Loggers had 32 points in the paint – and many more if free throws off inside fouls were included. They outrebounded PLU, 56-35 – with 29 offensive boards.
“It was extremely important we started off well,” Yarbro said. “They are a very disciplined team, and it is really hard to put them away.”
With all that had gone wrong for the Lutes – being overmatched inside, committing 15 turnovers and not getting much from the outside (2-for-11 on 3-pointers) – they somehow trimmed a large deficit to 51-47 with 6:05 to go.
But PLU self-imploded by missing four consecutive free throws on its next two trips, then turning the ball over on back-to-back possessions after that.
“Yeah, we have caught the short end on some games,” Lutes guard James Conti said. “We have come close too many times.
“But if it’s me, Cam (Schilling) – somebody at the end of the game needs to make a play, and we haven’t been.”
UPS went on an 8-0 run – highlighted by Yarbro’s twirling 6-foot baseline basket from behind the backboard – to take a 59-47 advantage with 2:27 to go, and the Lutes were never heard from again.
“All of these games are a must-win from here on out,” Lunt said. “We’ve got to do the best we can to sweep this thing.”
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442 todd.milles@thenewstribune.com
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