WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The trio of Jackson Clough, Christian McDonald and Matt Mounier nearly outscored their opponent themselves as Whitman College's men's basketball team took care of the visitors from the University of Puget Sound, 69-51, Saturday night in Northwest Conference action at the Sherwood Athletics Center.

Clough posted a game-high 23 points for Whitman (12-5, 6-2 NWC) but McDonald's 15 points and Mounier's 10 added to the trifecta that was too much for UPS (8-7, 3-4) to handle. Nick Holden did what he could to keep the Loggers in the game, finishing with a team-best 14 points and game-high eight rebounds.

First-half action failed to indicate how the Missionaries would eventually run away with the outcome. ,There were eight lead changes and three ties over the initial 14 minutes, with UPS notching leads as large as five points, twice, while Whitman owned at most a two-point advantage.

Trailing 24-23 McDonald dropped in a layup for the eighth and final lead change of the night. He added a jumper following a UPS miss to increase the lead to three at 27-24 with a little more than five minutes left in the half. For good measure, he drained a 3-pointer in the final seconds to send the M's into the halftime break with a 34-28 advantage.

The Loggers scored first out of the break but a 15-0 run by Whitman followed, effectively icing the game. Clough netted seven in the streak with Mounier chiming in with five and Philip Chircu adding a 3-pointer during an unanswered string that spanned 6:30 in the early minutes of the half.

From that point forward the margin between the teams swung minimally as both squads shot 33 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes of the contest.

Tenacious D -- the M's, not the rock band (Jack Black was not,in the house),-- reared its ever present head throughout the contest for Whitman as it came away with 12 steals -- its 12th game of the season with double-digit steals -- and forced 20 turnovers. And though the rebounding margin was close, 38-32 in Whitman's favor, UPS came down with only seven offensive rebounds all night and added just one single point via second-chance points.

Saturday's game, as well as Friday's (a win over Pacific Lutheran University), saw the coaching staffs decked out in their best suits and sneakers in honor of Coaches vs. Cancer during Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week.

Whitman continues a home swing with its next two league contests. Willamette University visits Sherwood for an 8 p.m. Friday game followed by a 6 p.m. contest Saturday against visiting Lewis & Clark College.