SALEM, Ore. – Five different Bearcats scored in double figures, including four starters led by Kai Brown with 20 points, as Willamette University's men's basketball team suffered a heart-breaking loss against the University of Puget Sound, 87-82, Saturday afternoon inside Cone Field House.

With the loss, Willamette falls to 6-10 overall and 0-8 in Northwest Conference play. Meanwhile, Puget Sound improves to 8-9 overall and 3-6 in NWC contests.

Brown's team-high point total came on 6-of-12 shooting from the field that included a 3-for-6 performance from beyond the three-point line. Aiding Brown offensively was a quartet of Bearcats that included Josiah Frank, Ryder Hsiung, D'Ante Dean, and Anujan Tennathur with 18, 17, 10, and 10 points, respectively. On the boards, Dean completed his double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with a team-leading six assists.

Willamette started the game by jumping out to a 10-4 lead on a Tennathur three-pointer with 17:04 on the clock. Over the next five-plus minutes, Puget Sound scored 11 unanswered points to take a 15-10 lead at the 12:02 mark of the first half. The host Bearcats would claw their way back thanks to an 8-2 run that concluded with back-to-back free throws by Hsiung just past the halfway mark of the opening half. Over the next three-plus minutes, both team would trade runs resulting in a five-point lead (28-23) for Willamette on a pair of free throws by Caleb Moore with 6:32 on the clock. Puget Sound would tie the game on three separate occasions over the next four minutes, as the visiting Loggers knotted the game at 35-all with just under three minutes left. Over the final three minutes of the first half, Willamette used a 7-2 run to gain a five-points advantage (42-37) at halftime.

Coming out the locker room, Willamette increased its lead to double digits (54-42) thanks to a 12-5 run over the opening three-plus minutes of the second half. Over the next 14 minutes, Puget Sound slowly cut into the Bearcats' lead before taking a slim one-point advantage (71-70) on a two-pointer by Hugo Rutherford with 3:08 left in the game. Brown would tie the game for the final time on a free throw with 2:44 left before UPS scored five unanswered points capped by a back-breaking three-pointer by Zane Miller with 116 seconds left on the clock. Timely free throw shooting down the stretch for Puget Sound would result in an 87-82 victory for the visiting Loggers, as Willamette got within three points (85-82) on a deep three-pointer by Hsiung for the Bearcats' final points of the evening.

Puget Sound was led offensively by Taj Phillips, who scored a game-high 30 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field and also went 11-for-12 at the free throw line. Phillips was aided offensively by Miller and Rutherford with 18 points apiece. Phillips also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while dishing out a game-high eight assists as well.

As a team, Willamette shot a combined 25-for-61 (41.0%) from the field that included 11-of-28 (39.3%) from behind the three-point line with the Bearcats connecting on 21-of-23 (91.3%) at the free throw line. On the other hand, Puget Sound was a combined 31-for-61 (50.8%) from the field, 8-for-14 (57.1%) from long distance, and 17-for-21 (81.0%) at the charity stripe.

Willamette returns to the hardwood on Tuesday, January 28, when the Bearcats wrap up the opening month of 2025 on the road against the Pioneers of Lewis & Clark College starting at 6:00 PM in Portland.