Box Score
WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- The win was in the bag.
But it needed a signature moment, a valedictory flourish befitting a triumphant end to a grueling week, a valentine to an electric crowd that had shared in the lows of a gutting loss on Tuesday.
On a night when everyone dug deep and rose to the occasion, who better than Whitman senior guard LuQuam Thompson -- all 5 feet, 11 inches of him -- to soar in for the exclamation point. Thompson leaped through a tangle of bodies in the lane to block the shot of 6-foot-6 Lewis and Clark forward Justin Leathers with one minute remaining in the Missionaries' 76-59 victory, giving the Sherwood Center crowd one last chance to howl.
It was the final defensive stand of too many to count and capped an inspiring and essential performance by Thompson, who has overcome knee and hamstring injuries to become the kind of selfless contributor that populate Whitman head coach Eric Bridgeland's roster.
"He doesn't say 'boo.' He's all about the team," Bridgeland said. "He gives you everything. He doesn't want press, he doesn't want accolades. He's all about team, and he has a forest fire inside."
"That's our season," Whitman wing Philip Chricu said of Thompson's block. "He's been battling."
Thompson had 10 points, three rebounds and two steals off the bench, and fellow reserve Jackson Clough chipped in 11 points as foul trouble forced Bridgeland's rotational hand. Those contributions underwrote starters Matt Mounier (15 points, eight rebounds), Tochi Oti (10 points), Chircu (nine points), Evan Martin (10 points, six rebounds) and Clay Callahan (nine points, two steals) and helped deliver the Missionaries a critical Northwest Conference victory.
Whitman (11-6, 6-2) won its third game in seven days, drawing on reserves of energy and belief just three days removed from a home loss to rival Whitworth.
"That was a rough one," Chircu said of Tuesday's loss. "It was good to bounce back. We had an intensity we'd been missing."
The intensity was palpable throughout the second half. Down 41-38 at halftime, Whitman regrouped -- and exploded. Fewer than seven minutes into the second half, the Missionaries led 56-45. Chircu, Mounier and Thompson had two baskets apiece during the 18-4 surge to earn that lead.
Lewis and Clark cut the lead to 10, 61-51, with 9:26 to play, but Clough hit a 3-pointer and then converted on a crafty lay in to stem the tide.
After shooting just 32.4% from the field in the first half, Whitman made 13 of 23 second-half shots (56.5%) and held the Pioneers to 18 points after halftime.
"Lewis and Clark is good," said Bridgeland. "They had won five in a row. They had all week to get ready for us. We were coming off an emotional loss. This win... I saw so many positive things."
Bridgeland raved about Thompson, and about Chircu's ability to "play loose, to give us emotion, to keep it fun." He called Callahan "one of the finest leaders I've been around." He noted that Clough "made three or four huge plays in a row" in the second half."
"We took one heck of a blow on Tuesday, and playing four games in seven days is not easy," he added. "For us to get three wins... It's been a really tough stretch."
Not as tough as Whitman itself.
The Missionaries host Pacific at 8 p.m. on Jan. 31.
