WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Saturday afternoon's visit from the University of Rutgers-Newark was likely going to be a nip and tuck battle from opening tip to final horn. Whitman College's men's basketball team threw all the "supposed to's" and "should've's" out the window as it rolled…and rolled…and rolled its way to an 89-62 non-conference victory at the Sherwood Athletics Center, handing the Scarlet Raiders their first loss of the season.
Rutgers (2-1) was coming off of an overtime win on No. 17 Whitworth University's home court two days prior, while Whitman (2-1) was coming off a heartbreaking home loss -- in which it led for much of the game -- to the 13th-ranked Tommies from the University of St. Thomas the same night.
A scrappy Rutgers squad didn't allow it to be easy, but the Missionaries gave it their best shot to make it look that way.
Philip Chircu put Whitman on top for good with the opening bucket, a long-range bomb from behind the arc only 25 seconds into the game. Rutgers answered with a layup from Jordan McDaniel to draw within one but that was as close as the Raptors could climb over the remaining 38 minutes of action.
Before six minutes would elapse the Missionaries would extend the lead into double digits. A
Tochi Oti defensive rebound off a block from
JoJo Wiggins would lead to
Christian McDonald's trey at the other end of the floor to lift Whitman to a 16-5 advantage at the 14:40 mark of the first half.
The double-digit lead lasted for eight minutes as Rutgers tried to claw back into the contest, pulling to within six points, 31-25, with 3:18 left in the half.
Peter French drained a pair of free throws to increase the Whitman lead back to eight, and then a French rebound of a Rutgers miss led to a
Jackson Clough three-pointer to lift the lead back into double figures, though the Missionaries would end up settling for a nine-point advantage, 39-30, at the halftime break.
Chircu once again proved to be the spark in the beginning moments of a half as his layup kicked off a 12-0 run to start the second half, providing the home team with a 21-point lead before the 17-minute mark of the period. This time Whitman maintained its edge, streaking out eventually to a 37-point lead, 81-44, on an
Ege Mala jumper with 5:43 left in the game. Rutgers, as expected from a team that had just toppled one nationally-ranked program, battled back over the final minutes but Whitman had simply built too large of a cushion to overcome in its 27-point win.
One of the factors for both teams on the day were offensive rebounds and their accompanying second-chance opportunities. Whitman, which owned a 43-33 rebounding advantage, came away with 14 offensive boards to generate 11 second-chance points, while Rutgers was limited to just six offensive rebounds which provided only four second-chance points. The Missionaries' defense also played its part by forcing 12 turnovers, from which it produced 17 points. The Raptors received only eight points off of turnovers.
The rebounding advantage enjoyed by Whitman was spread out over 13 players with 10 coming down with at least two. French posted a team-high seven rebounds for Whitman.
McDonald led the Missionaries with 17 points but wasn't the only force in the scoring end. Clough finished with 15 points and was joined in the double-figures category by
Matt Mounier, with 14, and Oti who added 11.
McDaniel posted a game-high 21 points for Rutgers in the loss and narrowly missed the double-double, leading his team with a game-best eight rebounds.
Whitman -- averaging over 100 points per game -- will take its high-flying act to Santa Cruz, California, over the Thanksgiving break. The Missionaries will take on Chapman (Calif.) University on Nov. 29 before squaring off with host UC Santa Cruz on Nov. 30.
