WALLA WALLA, Wash. - The crosstown matchup between Whitman College and host Walla Walla University rolled through fits and spurts over most of the opening half, but a late run nearing intermission and a surge to open second-half action led the Whitties to a 101-65 non-conference win over the Wolves in men's basketball action at the Winter Education Complex.

The road victory improves Whitman to 7-0 while Walla Walla's loss drops its season mark to 2-7.

Christian McDonald, the game's leading scorer with 20 points, dropped in a long-range 3-pointer to open the night's scoring but the pesky Wolves worked back to a draw at 5-5 on a Michael Isotalo trey. That would be the final tie of the contest, but Walla Walla made the Whitties work for their lead most of the remainder of the night.

Up by 13, at 23-10, nearing the halfway mark of the first half Whitman seemed to have the game in control. A 17-7 Walla Walla run over the next four minutes trimmed the Whittie advantage to just three, however.

Three times in the next three minutes the Whitman lead dipped to just two but a 12-3 run from the Whitties to close the half gave the expected breathing room entering the intermission.

Time and time again throughout the first 20 minutes head coach Eric Bridgeland could be heard reminding his players that Walla Walla came to play, and his team needed to answer.

That late-half surge was part of the answer, the rest came with the start of the second half.

A 50-39 Whitman halftime lead inched ahead by two to open the half on an Austin Butler steal and layup. Five minutes later the lead was at 17 and by the midway point of the half it had ballooned to 26. Eventually the margin would hit 36 with a Cedric Jacobs-Jones layup to beat the shot clock in the final minute of action.

On the night, Whitman hit or exceeded most of statistical marks that rank among the nation's elite. Fourth in the nation in steals per game at 14.0 the Whitties hit that figure exactly, while surpassing their third-ranked scoring margin of 22.3 points. They fell one turnover short of their fifth-best turnovers forced average of 22 per game, but rolled to a 21-9 turnovers advantage, crushing their fourth-ranked average of +8.5 per outing. The final century-plus points total also exceeded their third-ranked scoring average of 90.7 points per game.

McDonald's 20 points lead a trio of Whitties into double figures with Tim Howell (12 points) and Jack Stewart (10) joining him. On the glass Whitman finished with a 55-42 edge over the Wolves as Jacobs-Jones ripped down a dominant 11 boards.

The Whitties will seek to extend their season-opening win streak in their next contest, a non-conference game December 20 against visiting Milsaps (Miss.) College at the Sherwood Athletics Center.