Mounier Leads Men to Victory

1/11/2014 8:37:00 PM

By: Roy Elia

Box Score WALLA WALLA - Matt Mounier scored 22 points to lead Whitman to a 74-60 victory over Pacific Lutheran in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game Saturday night on George Ball Court at Sherwood Center.

Dominic Lippi came off the bench to add 16 points and Tochi Oti tallied 12 for the Missionaries.

With its weekend sweep Whitman, which has now won eight of its last 10 games, raised its NWC record to 3-1 and its overall mark to 8-5. The only two losses to occur during the current stretch came to No. 1-ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point and conference rival Pacific.

The Missionaries threatened to run away and hide from the Lutes in the first two-and-a-half minutes as they shot out to a 10-2 lead. Mounier rainbowed in a 25-foot, straight-on three-pointer at the 17:33 mark for Whitman points eight, nine, and 10.

Guard Daniel Landram performed a single-handed effort - with a trio of layups and a trey - over the next three minutes to give the Lutes an 11-10 edge. PLU increased its lead over the next six minutes. A Kevin McCrossin basket in the low post put the Lutes in front, 21-15, with 8:43 on the clock. Pacific Lutheran led 24-18 before back-to-back, deep-corner 3s by Josh Duckworth and Lippi started a 17-7 surge over the last 4:51 of the period that sent the Missionaries to the locker room with a 35-31 halftime lead.

Whitman furthered its lead to 10, 58-48, with 9:15 left on four free throws by Mounier - the first two of which resulted from a technical foul assessed to the PLU bench. The lead moved up to 11 on two occasions over the next 1:52. A 3 by Mounier with8:38 remaining pushed the score to 61-50 and a Mounier drive at the 7:23 mark made it 63-52.

Whitman's spread expanded to 14, 72-58, on a turn-around, free-throw line jumper by Mounier with 1:37 to go and was matched on two Lippi free throws at the 1:06mark that brought the scoreboard tally to its final resting place.

"PLU is good," Whitman coach Eric Bridgeland said. "They're well coached and a tough team to beat. But I'm proud of our guys to get and build on the lead in the second half."

The Missionaries travel to the Willamette Valley next weekend for conference counters with Linfield on Friday and George Fox Saturday.

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