THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – A perfect shooting night for
Austin Butler led the Whitman College men's basketball team to a bounce back win Wednesday night against Geneva College at the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Tournament at Cal Lutheran University. The Whits rebounded from their lone loss of the season with a 103-81 win over the Golden Tornadoes.
Whitman (10-1, 2-0 NWC) came out of the gate firing on all cylinders and grabbing a 20-8 lead just over five minutes into the game. Geneva (0-10) cut the lead to ten just before the half, but that was as close as the game would get, as Whitman led wire-to-wire to collect its tenth win of the year.
Butler, the first year wing, from Los Angeles, Calif. scored a team-high 15 points while grabbing eight rebounds and adding four assists, again narrowly missing a double-double. Center,
Evan Martin added 14 points and four rebounds, while four other Whitties reached double-digit points. As a team Whitman shot an astounding 63.8 percent from the field and collected 15 steals on the night. It was clear from the get-go the Whits wanted to get back to their winning ways.
Christian McDonald started Whitman off on the right foot with a three-pointer to open the game. McDonald, Martin and
Tim Howell scored 14 of Whitman's 16 points to open the game and pushed the lead to 12 in the first three minutes. At the 8:53 mark Geneva connected on a three-point shot that cut the Whitman lead to eight, but Martin's layup pushed the lead back to double-digits where it would stay for the remainder of the night.
Guard,
Tochi Oti entered the half a perfect 4-4 from the field, helping Whitman to its 55-41 advantage. Martin led all Whitties with ten halftime points, while
Jack Stewart added eight. Whitman shot 50 percent from deep in the opening half and the defense forced 13 Geneva turnovers which led to 11 points.
Whitman was not about to let a slow start in the second half hinder its performance. The Whits scored 16 points in the half's opening 4:30 and kept the Golden Tornadoes in check. With ten minutes to play in the game, Whitman's lead reached 20 and the game was all but over.
Whitman's 22-point victory was the eighth double-digit win of the year and the fifth time the team has eclipsed the century mark in a game. It was an all-around outstanding performance Wednesday night as Whitman will now enter 2016 with a 10-1 record. The Whits begin conference play January 5 in Spokane, Wash. against No. 2 Whitworth University.
