NEWBERG, Ore.  Ranked second in the nation the Whitman Blues know they are going to take team's best shots when they visit. Sunday afternoon at the Wheeler Sports Complex on the campus of George Fox University it was the Blues' Tim Howell who had the best shots.

The junior guard poured in a career-high 40 points as Whitman (17-0, 8-0 NWC) pulled away from the host Bruins (6-11, 4-4) in the second half for a 95-80 Northwest Conference victory.

Twice before Howell had put in a 27-point effort, but Sunday easily eclipsed that mark as he entered the halftime break already with 21 points.

For a good portion of the game Whitman needed every one of those points.

Fox refused to back down from the highly-ranked Blues, entering the intermission trailing the visitors by just a point at 47-46. But it was at the tail end of that opening half in which Whitman finally began to put things together.

The opening half saw nine ties and 10 lead changes, the last of which came late after a tying jumper from Howell. On the ensuing possession Whitman's Andrew Harvey blocked a JJ Lacey jumper with Christian McDonald picking up the defensive rebound.

McDonald finished the fast transition off with an assist to Jack Stewart's 3-pointer that lifted the Blues to a 47-44 lead. Lacey would come back down court and hit a jumper but Stewart's long-range bomb from the left corner unknowingly created the final lead change of the game.

Not that Fox tossed in the towel, though, to start the second half.

Whitman battled for each basket against the gritty Bruins and held only a 71-66 lead at the 11:02 mark after Fox's Rico Thomas drained a trey.

That's when it all came together for the Blues, beginning with a trey from Howell that ignited a 13-0 run that lasted longer than four minutes.

It's not Whitman's breakneck pace, or its all-game defensive pressure, or the talent in the starters and those coming off the bench. It's the collective-ness of it all that finally wears down not only the physicality of an opponent, but perhaps the resolve of the opponent.

George Fox kept its resolve but the shots they'd made earlier in the contest began not falling, and right there to sweep up the misses was a Whitman squad that finished the day with a 40-35 advantage on the glass, allowing the Bruins just eight offensive rebounds all game.

And while points in the paint often is interpreted as the big men dropping in dunks or turn-around jumpers, for Whitman it's a sign of the slicing and dicing of each drive toward the rim resulting in layins as well as and-1's from the free-throw line. In Sunday's case, Whitman scored more than half its points, 48, from in the paint.

That hounding defense also played its usual role Sunday as the Blues forced 21 turnovers which were converted into 27 points.

Joining Howell in double-digits for Whitman was Jack Stewart who notched a 17-point game behind a trio of 3-pointers and a 4-of-5 night from the foul line.

Six different players came down with at least four rebounds for Whitman during the win, but the team high came from JoJo Wiggins who finished with seven to go along with four points, a steal and an assist.

Mason Green-Richards led three Bruins into double-figures, ending the loss with 21 points.

Next up for Whitman is a trip to Spokane, Washington, on Tuesday for a rematch with No. 6 Whitworth University. In early December the Blues downed the visiting Pirates, 79-65, in what was Whitman's fifth win of the season.