WALLA WALLA, Wash. Whitman flexes its depth because it can. Head coach Eric Bridgeland's deep rotation and playing-time egalitarianism this season have been, for the most part, luxury deployments, meant to nourish the future and pace the Blues' inner core of veterans for stretch-run battles to come.

Until Saturday. On Saturday, Whitman flexed its depth because it had to.

Cedric Jacobs-Jones was a low-post beast during a rare start, and Jaron Kirkley and Darné Duckett were spectacular off the bench, as Whitman reached deep for a 79-72 victory over hot-shooting Lewis and Clark in Northwest Conference men's basketball on a night it played the full 40 without three starters from the 2016-17 national semifinal team.

Their efforts, not ornamental but indispensable, complemented the closing heroics of Tim Howell and Austin Butler, as the Blues (12-0, 4-0 in NWC) reached the run-up to the first of at least two, probably three, and possibly four showdowns against rival Whitworth with a victory that sounded depths of character, playmaking and toughness.

"I'm proud of the guys who stepped up," Bridgeland said. "We give everyone here the freedom to make plays."

Whitman needed every second from the nine players who saw time here Saturday. Lewis and Clark, which entered the game last in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage, hit 13 of 29 from deep. Six different Pioneers stung the Blues from beyond the arc, the visitors wielding basketball's great equalizer from start to finish on a night offense did not come easy for Whitman.

Nicely timing his finest game in a Blues uniform, Kirkley, a sophomore, had nine clutch points, led Whitman with five assists, blocked two shots, made two steals, and grabbed critical rebounds on consecutive free throw bricks inside the final 1:25. He played turnover-free in a quietly-masterful 21 minutes.

Duckett had 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, a block and a steal -- and zero turnovers in 23 minutes.

Jacobs-Jones scored 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting. He had seven rebounds.

It didn't matter that sharpshooter Trevor Osborne wasn't feeling it from outside; the sophomore guard grabbed seven boards and had two steals.

Ben Beatie played just six minutes but made them count, snagging a pair of offensive rebounds and hammering a dunk in transition that gave Whitman its first lead of the game 12 minutes into the first half.

"They were so focused on Tim," said Bridgeland. "People talk about 'next man up.' We had so many contributions tonight. Trevor with seven rebounds. Jaron with those hustle plays late. Cedric, who just gives you whatever you need. Ben Beatie gave us great minutes in the middle of the second half."

Even with 10 defensive eyes fixed on him at any given time, Howell scored eight of the Blues' final 11 points and finished with a game-high 20. He made both ends of a one-and-one with 2:06 to go to push Whitman's lead to 73-66, after a 5-0 Lewis and Clark run trimmed the Blues' margin to its slimmest since the 12:30 mark of the second half.

Butler's steal -- one of four Saturday -- and breakaway dunk put Whitman ahead for good, 45-44, with 16:21 left in the game. That play came during a 17-4 Whitman run that gave the hosts their largest lead yet, 58-48, with 12:02 to go.

A three-point play by Jack Stewart sparked a 10-3 push for the Blues, creating the largest gap of the night for either team, 68-54 Whitman.

Whitman survived a blistering start by the Pios, who hit seven of their first eight shots and three of their first four 3-pointers, to climb ahead near the midway point of the first half. Jacobs-Jones put back a miss, Kirkley backed into the paint for a pair of near-range finishes, Beatie dunked in transition off a Kirkley dish and Duckett swished a jumper during a 10-0 run that made it 31-28, Blues, with 7:30 to play in the opening half.

It was 37-30, Whitman, after Jacobs-Jones scored inside with 2:45 to go. But the Blues, who forced turnovers on eight of 10 Lewis and Clark possessions during one late-half sequence, could not pad the lead.

The Pioneers took advantage, scoring the last eight points of the half to duck into recess ahead 38-37. Adrian Romero and Andrew Vickers banged 3s in the 8-0 run.

Whitman shot just 42.9 percent (15 of 35) with five assists over the first 20 minutes. Its starters were 8 of 22 from the floor.

Kyle Owens had 17 points and Zeke Crawford 13 for Lewis and Clark (4-9, 0-4), which dropped a 98-91 decision to Whitworth on Friday.

Butler added 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting for Whitman, which hosts eighth-ranked Whitworth (12-1, 4-0) at 8 p.m. Tuesday with first place in conference on the line.

Notes: Entering the Pacific game Friday, Butler was the only player in Division III ranked in the top 36 in blocked shots (36th) and steals (26th) per game. Butler had seven steals and two blocks over the weekend. Fellow junior Joey Hewitt entered the weekend ranked fifth nationally in steals per game … Whitworth's starting point guard, junior transfer Jordan Lester, has not played in the Pirates' last four games after starting the first nine. Lester is second on the Bucs in scoring and was fifth in the conference in assists entering Saturday night's games. Whitworth is 4-0 without him … Whitman has won 46 straight regular-season games and 28 conference games in a row.