Box Score

By Roy Elia

TACOMA,WA - LuQuam Thompson scored 22 points Saturday night to lead Whitman to a 79-71 victory over Puget Sound in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game at the UPS Fieldhouse.

Thompson was one of four Missionaries in double figures. Matt Mounier added 15 points while Ben Eisenhardt and Tochi Oti scratched out 11 apiece despite sub-par shooting performances.

The win improved the Missionary records to 10-2 in the conference and 15-6 overall. Puget Sound is now 7-5 and 11-10.

"I'm proud of the guys. It was a hard-fought win. We didn't shoot as well as we would have liked, but still found a way to get the win." Said Coach Bridgeland.

Whitman edged its way out to a 22-14 lead and equaled the eight-point margin, 26-18, on an Eisenhardt jumper at the 8:22 mark.

Evan Martin upped the lead to nine, 28-19, on a lane basket with 7:36 remaining.

The spread grew to 10, 31-21, on a three-point goal by Jackson Clough (So., Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep) with 6:00 to go. A pair of free throws by Matt Mounier produced an 11-point margin, 35-24, at the 3:17 mark.

LuQuam Thompson drained one of two free throws to make it a 12-point game, 36-24, with 2:14 showing on the clock.

Whitman led 38-30 at halftime.

The Loggers got the margin down to five, 55-50, on two free throws by Rex Nelson with 11:50 remaining before the Missionaries used a 10-0 run to open up a 15-point lead, 65-50. An Oti layin at the 8:13 mark ended the blitz.

UPS closed with five, 76-71, in the final minute prior to three Dominic Lippi freebies that produced the final margin of victory.

"They're resilient. They are going to fight. We needed to string together championship possessions. We knew they weren't going to go away. We had to have good possessions and we did."  Said Bridgeland.

Whitman ends the home portion of its 2013-14 schedule next weekend when it hosts George Fox on Friday and Linfield Saturday.