WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The winning streak reaches seven for Whitman College's men's basketball team as the Missionaries handily defeated visiting Pacific (Ore.) University, 80-56, in Northwest Conference action Friday night at the Sherwood Athletics Center. Christian McDonald's 14 points led Whitman and all scorers on a night the M's exacted a small bit of revenge to the team that had dealt them their last loss.

McDonald, who netted 10 of his points in the second half, was one of three players for Whitman (17-5, 11-2 NWC) to reach double-digits as Matt Mounier scored 13 while Jackson Clough added 11. The trio weren't the only players to help tame the Boxers (11-11, 6-7) as Even Martin and Tochi Oti chipped in with nine points apiece and Philip Chircu and Tim Howell both contributed seven points each.

Martin finished with seven rebounds to lead Whitman on the glass, and Howell finished the night with five assists while turning the ball over not one time during his 22 minutes of court time.

Pacific turnovers and the points generated off those mistakes played -- as it has all season -- a part in the Missionaries' 24-point victory. Whitman notched 29 points from 15 steals and 23 Boxer turnovers as an early lead just grew and grew over the course of the game.

As the teams went through the feeling-each-other-out part of the contest in the early minutes there were the expected lead changes, three to be exact, but when Whitman ran off a 6-0 spurt for the fourth and final lead change it signaled the beginning of the end for a Pacific team that had squeaked out a two-point home win over the M's in mid-January.

The Whitman advantage blossomed into double-digits at the 7:10 mark of the opening half when a Clough layup generated from a defensive rebound by Mounier at the other end, pushing the M's to a 27-16 edge. The lead crept to as many as 14 two times near the end of the half before settling at 12 heading into the break.

Pacific's Riley Grandinetti dropped in a 3-pointer to open the second half and cut Whitman's lead to single-digits, but a Chircu layup on the ensuing possession pushed the lead to 11 and the home team never led by fewer than that total over the remainder of the contest.

The Boxers did continue to battle, however, and they did draw back within 11, at 51-40 with 11:52 to play, but Clough scored the game's next nine points on consecutive treys. A Pacific timeout followed by a 3-pointer from Coby Proctor stopped the bleeding but soon enough the M's were pouring it on again, pushing the lead into the 20s until the final minutes when ball possession and running the remaining minutes off the clock became more important.

Skyler Burgess and Mitch Wettig did lead Pacific in scoring on the night, but the Whitman defense limited that duo to just 10 points apiece. Wettig ended the night tied with Martin for game-high rebounding honors, also coming down with seven boards.

Whitman will put its win streak on the line Saturday in the 'Wood when George Fox University visits for the home finale and Senior Night. Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m. with a brief ceremony to honor the four graduating seniors -- Clay Callahan, Cheney Doane, Dominic Lippi and Matt Mounier -- scheduled on court 10 minutes before the tip.