NEWBERG, Ore. – The commanding lead slowly melted away but Whitman College's men's basketball team hung on for a gritty, 83-78, Northwest Conference victory Friday night at George Fox University, taking down the Bruins at the Wheeler Sports Center behind a double-double from the Missionaries' Evan Martin.

Martin led Whitman (10-4, 4-1 NWC) with 22 points and added a game-high 12 rebounds while Fox's Jonny Howard poured in a game-best 27 points for the Bruins in their loss.

Martin kicked off the scoring for the game with an early layup that prodded the Missionaries into a solid first half, allowing the visitors to tote a 48-35 lead into the halftime break.

Never trailing during the opening 20 minutes Whitman grew its lead to double digits before even the midway point of the half then pushed the advantage to 14 before settling for the 13-point edge at the break.

Early action in the second half continued to favor Whitman but the Bruins chipped into the deficit until pulling within just a basket on several occasions nearing the midpoint of the final 20 minutes.

A Howard 3-pointer drew Fox within one, 64-63, at the 9:00 mark, and a Chris Stanfield jumper after a Whitman miss pushed the Bruins in front, 65-64, for the first time all night. Another Fox basket increased the Whitman deficit to three before a pair of Tochi Oti free throws trimmed that to just one.

Oti made the play of the game on Fox's next possession, picking the pocket of the Bruins' Johnathan Doutt then racing down court for an easy layup to lift Whitman back in front, 68-67, with an advantage it wouldn't relinquish over the final 6 minutes and change.

The Missionaries' lead ballooned to seven in the final minutes before ending on a five-point cushion at the horn.

After Martin's stellar night, Whitman's scoring was spread amongst nine other players with Matt Mounier adding in 10 points to also creep up into double-digits in scoring. The deep bench of head coach Eric Bridgeland contributed 33 points during the win. Though Howard and three others scored in double-figures for Fox, the rest of the team outside of that quartet produced a cumulative total of just 16 points.

Throughout the night the M's worked the ball in close, eventually accruing 60 of their 83 points from in the paint, making their 50-percent night from the floor (35-of-70) understandable. The standard pesky, annoying and turnover-producing defense for Whitman did its part again forcing 19 turnovers, coming away with 13 steals -- five by Clay Callahan -- and turning the miscues into 19 points. And though the Missionaries' rebounding advantage was only seven (42-35) the defense allowed a measly two second-chance points by Fox over 40 minutes of action.

Whitman stays West for its next game, taking the short trip to Forest Grove, Oregon, where it will face host Pacific University Saturday night at 6 p.m. in another Northwest Conference contest.