Box Score

By Ben Zimmerman

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Tochi Oti is making the question more and more difficult to answer with each successive outing of his sophomore campaign:

Is the Whitman guard at his best slashing right?

Darting left?

Hurtling through transition traffic like a rogue comet?

The answer on Friday was "yes."

Oti's lacerating work off the dribble was the centerpiece of the Missionaries' 73-53 win over Linfield, their fourth victory in five games and their most lopsided road win of the season.

"He worked so hard in the offseason to be relevant and be part of what we're doing," Whitman head coach Eric Bridgeland said. "He's electric in the full court. He's fast, and he's really good with the ball. He's making an effort to push the ball and get in the paint."

Oti scored 19 points in 20 minutes, a nearly point-per-minute pace that seemed even more whiplash-fast in real time, and Bridgeland emptied the bench in the second half of a wire-to-wire trucking.

Whitman improved to 9-5 overall and 4-1 in the Northwest Conference, easing into a first-place tie atop the NWC with Whitworth, which it hosts on Tuesday, and Lewis and Clark, which visits Sherwood Center Jan. 24.

First, however, there is the matter of George Fox, awaiting the Missionaries at 6 p.m. Saturday in Newberg, Ore. George Fox smacked previously-unbeaten Whitworth 98-85 on Friday, falling two points shy of spiking chalupa stock prices.

"Our conference is like that," said Bridgeland. "There are five or six teams that are all capable of winning it. When you're on the road, you gotta have your best stuff."

Against Linfield, Whitman exploded to a 14-4 lead out of the gate. Rarely was that double-digit cushion threatened. During the opening salvo, Missionary forward Evan Martin sent a message via poster, taking a handoff in the lane and depositing a ferocious, one-handed dunk in the grille of an unfortunate Wildcat defender.

Starting strong was a point of emphasis in a hyper-focused week of practice, Bridgeland noted, and players and coaching staff alike were motivated to avoid the kind of early deficits that nagged Whitman in its previous road-trip west.

"We did not have a good effort (on the last road trip)," said Bridgeland. "From a program standpoint and a principle standpoint, we wanted one good half to start, one good half to finish. We had a great week of practice. They earned this win.

"I thought we guarded really well in the first half," he added. "We rebounded well, played together, had great energy. We had a really good vibe the whole first half. They were all together. They were focused."

Martin finished with 13 points on 5-of-7 field goal shooting and had team highs in rebounds (five) and blocked shots (two). Philip Circu added nine points on 3-of-5 shooting and Clay Callahan chipped in four assists and three steals.

But the star in what became an ensemble performance was Oti, who had five of Whitman's last 10 first-half baskets, each coming on drives and finishes more jaw-dropping and ankle-breaking than the previous.

Oti watched most of the second half from the bench. Fourteen Whitman players saw at least three minutes of action and 10 played 10 minutes or more.

That should leave everyone well-rested for the crucial week at hand.