WALLA WALLA, Wash.  It took the full 40 minutes and in the end the top-ranked Whitman Blues held off the last-second efforts of visiting College of Wooster (Ohio), 80-79, behind 27 points from Jase Harrison and 24 from Tim Howell.

Ranked No. 1 in the HERO Sports rankings and third in the D3hoops.com poll, Whitman (7-0) weathered the strong challenge from a Wooster (5-4) squad that had played its way into the Elite 8 of last season's NCAA Division III national tournament.

Trailing 73-72 with 2:47 to play Harrison knocked down a pair of free throws to inch the Blues in front. A defensive stop followed by a jumper by Howell 26 seconds later upped the advantage to three.

Wooster's Dan Fanelly pulled the Scots back to within a point on a layup but Howell's jumper at the other end extended the margin to three once more.

Again, though, Fanelly was able to cut through the lane for another layup, but again a bucket from the Blues -- this one a driving layup from the left side by Harrison --  pushed the lead back to three, 80-77, with a minute to play.

Fanelly found his way back through the lane for yet another layup and trimmed Wooster's deficit to one with a minute remaining.

The Scots finally caught a break then, with Spencer Williams pulling down a defensive rebound off a Whitman miss as the clock ticked past the 30-second mark.

Milt Davis was able to launch a 3-point attempt from the right corner but was off the mark, only to be redeemed by a Fanelly rebound. The kick-out pass after the board went back to Davis who again put one up from behind the arc.

That one clipped the rim and caromed hard toward the right sideline where, after a scramble, Whitman was able to dig out possession and loft the ball into the front court , the game clock finally sounding its horn while the ball arced carelessly through the air toward the end line.

Both teams will find issues they wished to have gone differently in the contest.

Neither shot well in the first half, Whitman at 36 percent and Wooster at 32 percent.

The less-than-charitable stripe was unkind to the Blues who hit just 17 of their 38 attempts (45 percent) from the foul line, while the Scots pumped out 14 3-point attempts but dropped in only four (29 percent).

Wooster dominated the glass, 49-29, but its figures were heavily weighted toward the defensive rim as it claimed only 11 offensive boards and generated just 12 second-chance points.

Whitman's hounding defense helped outweigh its ills at the free-throw line as the Blues forced 27 Wooster turnovers, turning that number into 26 points.

Harrison's 27 led all scorers and included a 5-of-7 night from long range, as well as the addition of five rebounds, which tied JoJo Wiggins for team-high honors.

Beyond Howell's 24 points the rest of the Whitman roster combined for just 29 points.

The oil that helps grease the Whitman machine, Austin Butler, scored four points, came away with three rebounds -- all in the defensive end -- while also chiming in with three steals and a career-best four blocks.

Four Scots eclipsed the double-digit barrier, led by Alex Baptiste and Fanelly who ended the night with 17 points apiece. Baptiste was a monster on the glass as he completed the double-double by ripping down 17 rebounds.

Whitman travels across the country for its next pair of contests, heading to Florida for the Daytona Beach Shootout on Dec. 20 and 22. The Blues take on Kings (Pa.) College on their first day, followed by a top-five match-up against No. 4 Marietta (Ohio) College two days later.