WALLA WALLA, Wash. - In what proved to be a back-and-forth game, No. 16 Whitman College came up short Saturday night against the upset-minded Lutes of Pacific Lutheran University. Whitman's four-point advantage with just under two minutes to play was not enough as PLU battled back to steal the 79-74 victory. The game saw nine lead changes and three ties, with eight lead changes coming in the second half.

With 1:51 showing on the clock, Christian McDonald converted two free throws to give Whitman (14-3, 6-2 NWC) a 74-70 lead. The Lutes converted a three-point shot to pull within one, and after a Missionary traveling violation PLU hit another three, taking the lead, 76-74. Whitman was unable to narrow the deficit in the closing seconds as Pacific Lutheran (11-6, 4-4 NWC) completed its come-from-behind upset win.

"We'll learn from this," Head coach Eric Bridgeland said about the team's close loss. "When a team is making shots, the little things start to add up, especially with a young team. We missed two or three coverages and they made big shots. You have to pay attention to the details and that's what we'll do, watch the tape and get better."

Tim Howell scored a team-high 21 points in the game with Tochi Oti and Austin Butler adding 12 and eight respectively. Senior, Evan Martin accounted for five rebounds and six blocks while shooting 2-for-3 from the field. McDonald added 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting as the team was held in check for most the night with the Whits shooting under 45-percent from the field for just the fourth time this season.

Whitman started hot from the field, shooting nearly 72-percent in the opening four minutes of the game, but Pacific Lutheran stayed right with them. At the 12:35 mark of the opening half, it seemed the Whits may be on track for another blowout win. The lead reached nine and PLU was not able to slow the Whitman offensive.

Over the next five minutes, the Lutes would use a 13-7 run to cut the Whitman lead to two with seven minutes to play in the first half. Minutes later, the Missionaries pushed the lead back out to eight and seemed to be in control once again. However, PLU would not go away. The half ended with a 13-2 run in favor of Pacific Lutheran, who snatched the lead away from the Whits 41-38 entering the break.

Whitman entered the half with a higher shooting percentage than the visiting Lutes, but the Whitties surrendered nine second chance points and nine offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Oti recorded 10 first half points and Whitman's eight forced turnovers led to seven points.

The second half started with PLU extending its lead to seven just three minutes in, however, back-to-back blocks from Martin would ignite a spark in the Whits, as the home team used a 14-0 run to pull ahead of the Lutes 56-49. After Pacific Lutheran grabbed a 59-58 lead back from Whitman, neither team led by more than four points until the end.

Howell kept the Missionaries in the game down the stretch, scoring 10 points over a two and a half minute period. Unfortunately, the final four minutes and fifty-two seconds were not good to the Whits. The only points Whitman was able to come away with, were McDonald's free throws with less than two to play.

"We have gotten to this point because we play harder than who we are playing." Bridgeland said about his team. "Tonight, they played significantly harder than we did. We had spurts, but they played harder than we did. Look at the rebounding total, that makes it even more evident." The Whits were outrebounded 45-32 by the Lutes, who grabbed 16 offensive boards.

Whitman continues to sit second place in the conference and trails leading Whitworth by just two games with six to play. Whitman is back at it again next weekend, but will be on the road for games at Lewis and Clark College and Linfield College on Friday and Saturday.