WALLA WALLA, Wash.  The curtain is closed on basketball at the Sherwood Athletic Center until the new year, the Whitman men's 111-69 victory over Colorado College on Friday its final official business on the 2017 calendar.

Still pending are road trips to Las Vegas and Los Angeles for what junior Joey Hewitt referred to as "the meat of the non-conference schedule."

The victory Friday saw the top-ranked Blues crank the defensive intensity to "piranha."

"We focused on communication," said senior Tim Howell. "Our defensive pressure was second to none."

One week removed from a near-loss experience at the University of Puget Sound, Whitman (6-0) was back in full, terrifying command. After an unusually laconic start -- their 22-12 lead over the first 10 minutes projected to an 88-point pace -- the Blues exploded for 26 points in four minutes, like a flame gnawing through waterlogged fuse and hitting a section doused in gasoline.

"It all starts with trusting the guy behind you on defense," said Hewitt, among six Whitman players to score in double figures with 16 points. "That works for our game in general."

"We felt we were lacking in communication (against UPS), and we worked on that all week in practice," added sophomore Robert Colton. "We were leaps and bounds better. It helped us to be tighter. There were fewer holes in our press. We moved faster.

"It paid off."

The payoff was "many, many steals," according to sophomore Trevor Osborne, who made 4 of 7 3-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points. The Blues, who entered the game leading all of Division III in steals-per-game at 18.4, swiped 22 against the Tigers. Howell, Osborne, Hewitt, Austin Butler and Jack Stewart had three steals apiece, and Whitman forced 35 turnovers -- nudging its per-game average (32.2, second in the nation) upward.

"We emphasized it all week: calling out switches, 'go' calls, calling out screens," Osborne said. "If they can't get it across half court, it makes it easier for us."

An Osborne 3-pointer started Whitman's 26-point explosion with 8:13 left in the first half. An impossibly difficult transition layup by Howell ended it at the 3:49 mark. The run gave Whitman a 50-19 lead, effectively putting the game out of reach but having no discernible impact on the home team's energy. As has become par for the season, the Blues' bench seemed maniacally bent on upping the ante, and the starting five had no choice but to see that bet and raise it.

Osborne, Howell (19 points, four assists), first-year Darne Duckett (15 points) and sophomore Jaron Kirkley (eight points, four assists, two steals) spearheaded a 66-point bench effort.

In what would constitute cameo appearances for teams with shorter, more traditional rotations, starters Butler (five assists, three blocked shots), Stewart (10 points, five assists) and Colton (10 points, team-high six rebounds, two steals) feasted ravenously.

"We play with so many different combinations," said Hewitt, "and no one plays with fear. That speaks to our practices."

Hewitt, who earned and, for more than a month, retained the faux-World Wrestling Entertainment championship belt Whitman awards based on practice performance each week, confessed that Butler had "stolen it" via recent practice supremacy.

"I'll get it back," Hewitt promised.

Seems like a contest Blues opponents have been paying for all season.

Whitman visits Occidental at 4 p.m. on Dec. 17.

Notes: Osborne, Duckett (2 for 4) and Stewart (2 for 5) were dangerous from beyond the 3-point arc, but the rest of the team was 0 for 10. Whitman shot 64 percent (36 for 56) on 2-point field goals. … First-team all-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference seniors Eric Houska (17 points) and John Hatch (16 points) paced Colorado College (3-2). … Hatch played a role in the defensive highlight of the game for Whitman: During the Blues' 26-0 run, Hatch sneaked behind the defense and was momentarily alone on the baseline with the ball. He elevated for a two-handed dunk, only to have Butler soar in and swat it off the backboard for one of his three blocked shots. Hatch is 6-foot-7. Butler is 6-1. … Occidental (7-0) of Los Angeles is one of two Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams from the nine-team league with a winning record. … The Tigers represent the first of three consecutive intraregional road games for the Blues, who visit SCIAC schools La Verne on Dec. 18 and Redlands on Dec. 21. Whitman faces Wisconsin-Stevens Point in Las Vegas on Dec. 29 and 19th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan in Vegas on Dec. 30.