WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Like a pack of wolves quietly hunting its prey, Whitman College's men's basketball team struck quickly and struck fatally Saturday night at the Sherwood Athletics Center, dismantling visiting Lewis & Clark College by a count of 87-58 in Northwest Conference action.

The Pioneers (11-8, 6-4 NWC) trailed the Missionaries (14-5, 8-2) by a single point midway through the opening half. Ten minutes later the deficit was 13. When the second half got underway it wasn't more of the same -- it was worse.

Whitman and L&C parried back and forth over the opening segment of the game with the M's holding the advantage for the majority of that first 10 minutes, but the visiting Pios were able to sneak ahead twice by a point and draw even on four other occasions. And then…poof.

The M's surrendered the lead at 13-12 on a pair of free throws then moved back in front, 14-13, with two free throws from Philip Chircu at the 9:51 mark. The next thing the visitors knew they trailed by three, then six, then nine.

It was still early, and both hope and determination still had seats on the Lewis & Clark bench and in the rotation as the Pios trimmed their deficit from nine to just three, 26-23, with a little more than four minutes to play in the half.

At the very least, hope was pushed to the end of the L&C bench over those last four minutes, forced there by a surging finish to the half from the M's who struck out to a 40-27 advantage by the time the halftime horn sounded.

Lewis & Clark never lost its determination during second half action; it was, after all, the conference's third-place team coming into the night, a feat not accomplished with smoke and mirrors. But the league's second-place team found another notch -- the wolves circling in for the kill -- led by 14 of Christian McDonald's game-high 16 points.

After shooting 54 percent (15-of-28) from the floor over the game's initial 20 minutes, Whitman improved that figure in the second half to a lofty height of 58 percent (14-of-24), finishing at 56 percent for the game. It also dropped in eight 3-pointers and ended the night 21-of-28 (75 percent) from the free-throw line.

The Pios finished at 44 percent (20-of-45) from the floor which probably puts them near the lead most other nights. Saturday, however, it was just too much…well, too much Whitman.

Four other Missionaries joined McDonald in double figures. Evan Martin and Jackson Clough poured in 15 apiece, Matt Mounier added 14 and Chircu chipped in with 11. Most combinations of four of those five players would finish with more or nearly as many points as Lewis & Clark scored as a team.

Cannen Roberson led the Pioneers' offense on the night with 14 points. Two others also cracked the double-digit plateau but a 45-percent (11-of-24) evening from the foul line certainly didn't help keep hope on the floor.

A match-up between the league's top two teams is next on the agenda for Whitman as it welcomes No. 21 Whitworth University (17-2, 10-0) to Sherwood Tuesday night for an 8 p.m. tip.