WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Jackson Clough and Philip Chircu reached double figures in scoring and Evan Martin pulled down 11 rebounds, but Whitman College wasn't able to hold onto a first-half lead against visiting Warner Pacific College, eventually falling to the visiting Knights, 83-71, in non-conference action Saturday evening at Sherwood Athletics Center.

Clough finished with a team-high 14 points for Whitman (4-3) while Chircu added 13. Warner Pacific (10-2) placed four players in double figures, led by Doug Thomas' game-high 20 points.

The dagger that spoiled the night may have come during an 18-second segment nearing the mid-point of the second half.

The Knights had taken a five-point advantage into the halftime break but Whitman battled back to move in front, 45-43, on an Evan Martin layup with 14:17 to play. Warner Pacific wrested back the lead but a Martin jumper pulled the Missionaries to within two at 51-49. Thomas drained a three-pointer from the left wing on WPC's next possession, then Hakeem Bradley blocked a Clough layup Whitman's next time down the court. The block was rebounded by the Knights' Laron Daniels who fired the ball up court to Thomas for another three to quickly advance a two-point advantage to eight in that short 18 second span.

The lead would bloat to 11 twice over the next three minutes but the M's rallied to within a single possession, 68-65, on a Chircu layup at the 4:15 mark. However, Warner Pacific answered with eight consecutive points to extend the advantage to 11 again. Whitman drew within seven with a little less than two minutes on the clock but that would be as narrow of a deficit it would manage over the final 100 seconds.

The night didn't start out the way it had finished. A Clough layup opened the scoring ,and after WPC tied it with a layup from Michael Hall the Missionaries caught fire. By the time the clock was winding toward the 11-minute mark Whitman had grown its lead to 10. As perhaps an omen, the Knights eventually drew even at 19-19 behind a 13-3 run, but a Christian McDonald trey sent the home team in front for the next four minutes.

A Daniels layup would draw WPC even at 29-29 and a free throw from Daniels, who missed the second shot, would eventually lead the Knights into the break with a slim lead.

Whitman struggled from the floor for most of the night finishing with a 31-percent effort (22-of-71). In contrast, WPC ended the contest at a cool 50 percent (30-of-60) while also dropping in 18-of-20 (90 percent) from the foul line. The M's were also troubled at the free-throw line, hitting 19 of their 29 shots (65 percent) from the stripe.

Seventeen steals and 23 WPC turnovers buoyed Whitman's come-back efforts, however, as the team scored 21 points off Knights turnovers.

Whitman will get a chance to put up a home win in its next contest on Sunday, Dec. 21 when Wells (N.Y.) College comes West to take on the Missionaries in a 7 p.m. outing.