PORTLAND, Ore.  Junior transfer Jase Harrison has looked comfortable dissecting defenses in the friendly confines of Sherwood Center.

At one of the wobbliest moments of Whitman's season Saturday at the Pamplin Sports Center, the Blues' silky southpaw made someone else's home his happy place.

Harrison had 17 of his game-high 23 points and three of his five steals in the second half to spearhead Whitman's 82-69 victory over Lewis and Clark in Northwest Conference men's basketball. The second-ranked Blues, who trailed at halftime for the first time this season, used a 10-0 run midway through the second half to pull away and win in their first road game since Dec. 22.

"This was a great win that will pay dividends down the road," Whitman head coach Eric Bridgeland said.

Six of the next seven are on the road, too, for the ever-hungry apex predators of the Northwest Conference. Whitman (16-0, 7-0 in NWC) visits George Fox in Newberg at 4 p.m. Sunday, and calls on archrival Whitworth in Spokane at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The second half against Lewis and Clark redeemed a shaky first; the Blues survived a brutal shooting night from deep (5 of 17 on 3-pointers) and a tenuous performance at the free throw line (11 of 22). A backcourt steal and easy layin by Harrison gave Whitman the lead for good with 12:05 left in the game, and was the first of five consecutive Pioneer possessions that ended in a turnover, leading to a parade of layins.

When Lewis and Clark mustered its final counterpunch and cut the Blues lead to 62-57, Whitman pinned the Pios back on the canvas with an 8-3 spurt, capped by Harrison's three-point play.

"These are the wins where you earn your stripes," Bridgeland said. "In these kinds of battles, when you're playing a team coming off a loss on its home floor, they've got a ton of fight. We did not play great, but we made plays down the stretch."

Tim Howell had 15 points for the winners, giving him 957 points in his Whitman career. Austin Butler, who is sixth in the nation in steals, added two more and scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Harrison made 9 of 11 field goals and snagged seven rebounds.

In the second half, Whitman shot 71 percent from inside the 3-point arc, committed just one turnover, and had eight steals.

"Our pressure was nowhere for the longest time," said Bridgeland. "All of a sudden, it was there. We made plays when we needed to make plays."

Lewis and Clark declared its upset intentions pointedly, with an explosive push over the final 7:50 of the first half. In that span, it made 7 of 10 3-pointers to demolish an 11-point deficit. Whitman's last basket of the half was a 3-pointer by Trevor Osborne with 7:06 left. The Blues mitigated the damage by making a passable 6 of 11 free throws over that stretch, and trailed 33-31 at halftime.

The Pioneers finished the half on a 25-12 run.

"Lewis and Clark had won what, seven of eight before losing a close one (against Whitworth) last night? We knew it was going to be a battle," said Bridgeland. "To be neck-and-neck and then separate, there's a lot to build on."