Box Score

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Playing their second straight game without Ben Eisenhardt, out due to a concussion, the Whitman men's basketball team battled Washington University tonight at the Lopata Classic, but came out on the short end 76-68. The loss drops the Missionaries to 0-3 in the early season; No. 11 ranked Washington U. improves to 4-0.
 
The Bears, playing on their home floor, were able to hold off Whitman despite shooting only 46 % from the line (13-28). The Missionaries were 63 % from the charity stripe (12-19).
 
The Missionaries were led in scoring by Tochi Oti who came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points after scoring a career-best 14 the night before. Oti was named to the all-tournament team as was teammate Josh Duckworth who tossed in 13 tonight, following his 15 point performance the previous evening.
 
In the first half, the Bears opened up 10 point leads twice before settling for a 44-37 halftime advantage. At the outset of the second half, Washington U. appeared to be sluggish and the Missionaries perked up and cut the lead to two on two separate occasions, 47-45 and 51-49. Each time, though, the Bears had an answer.
 
A critical play came at the 13:28 mark when Alan Alboona was fouled on a three-pointer. He converted the free throw and the four-point play increased the Bear's margin from two to six.  Whitman was able to pull within two one more time at 57-55 when Matt Mounier converted a three-point play, driving in and drawing the foul, but the Bears responded with a trey by Alboona and the lead was five again.
 
Oti sank a floater to cut the lead to three but that was as close as the Missionaries would get as Washington U. expanded its lead to as many as 10 down the stretch.
 
The Bears ended up with a huge advantage in field goal percentage, shooting  52.9 % from the floor whereas Whitman shot just 37.7 %.
 
Dominic Lippi totaled 14 points for the Whits (4 of 4 from beyond the arc), while Mounier had 13 to round out the Missionaries in double figures.
 
Alboona led all scorers with 19. Chris Klimek and Nick Burt both had 12 and Matt Palucki had 10 for the Bears.
 
Whitman is back in action when they travel to California to face Cal Tech and the University of Redlands on November 27 and 29, respectively.
 
 
 
 
Contact:
Andrew Holt
Whitman Sports Information Director
holtac@whitman.edu
509.527.5902