Box Score

By Roy Elia

WALLA WALLA - Senior Night.
 
A time to celebrate.
 
A time to honor.
 
A time for the Whitman men's basketball team to rid themselves of the bitter taste of a Friday night loss to George Fox. 
 
The Missionaries did just that on a night when the school and gathered partisans saluted the contributions of seniors Ben Eisenhardt, Josh Duckworth, and LuQuam Thompson.

Dominic Lippi scored 15 points and Matt Mounier added 14 as Whitman rolled to a 91-63 Northwest Conference victory over Linfield.
 
Whitman improved to 11-3 in the conference and 16-7 overall while dropping the Wildcats to 1-12 and 3-19.
 
Lippi almost single-handedly vaulted the Missionaries into a 14-2 lead with just under four minutes gone in the first half. Lippi successfully launched a trio of three-point field goals - at the 19:11, 18:04, and 16:02 marks - to help establish the early 12-point spread.
 
Whitman twice matched the lead - 16-4 on an Evan Martin basket from the low block with 15:01 on the clock and 18-6 on a Matt Mounier jumper with 14:20 left.
 
Thompson extended the lead to 15, 24-9, with a couple of free throws at the 12:39 mark.
Linfield ripped off the next eight points to close the gap to seven, 24-17. Ryan Cali tossed in a trey with 8:39 remaining in the half to complete the run.
 
A three-point play the old fashioned way by Brandon Gagliardi 11 seconds later stopped the bleeding and put Whitman up by 10, 27-17.
 
The Missionaries mirrored their biggest lead of the half when Toshi Oti muscled in an acrobatic, low-block try with 6:05 to go that made it 41-26.
 
Oti's bucket produced points three and four in a 10-0 run that ended with a 47-26 count on the scoreboard after a Lippi three-point play at the 4:41 mark.
 
Linfield ended the period with an 11-4 run to cut Whitman's lead to 14, 52-38, at halftime.
 
The Missionaries realized a 21-point lead on two occasions early in the second half - 61-40 with 15:19 to go on a three from the left corner by Jackson Clough and 64-43 on another Clough trey at the 14:37 mark.
 
Clough's latter three started a run of 12 consecutive points. Thompson ended the run with a driving layin with 11:52 remaining that put Whitman up by 30, 73-43.
 
Brock Wade gave the Missionaries their biggest margin of the game - 36 points - with a right-wing three that brought the tally to 84-48.
 
The game's most moving moment came with 4:41 left when Bridgeland signaled for a timeout for the sole purpose of a senior class curtain call. Eisenhardt, Duckworth, and Thompson were rewarded with a standing ovation from Whitman fans.
 
"I'm happy for LuQuam for the impact he's making (despite two knee surgeries). I admire Ben despite his adversity (missing 15 of the first 16 games). I hope Josh can get healthy so he can be a part of what we're doing." Said Coach Bridgeland of his senior class.
 
Whitman's next game is an 8 p.m. conference counter at Whitworth on Tuesday.