WALLA WALLA, Wash.  Eric Bridgeland's first sentence in the press conference following top-ranked Whitman's 87-77 grind-it-out victory over Schreiner in the opening round of the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament at Sherwood Athletic Center Friday was a masterpiece of economy.

"Exhale," the Blues' head coach said.

The trajectory of the game had changed -- gradually, inexorably -- from a comfortable destiny to the margins of crisis, and the Whitman (27-1) response, spearheaded by Cedric Jacobs-Jones and closer nonpareil Tim Howell, may have been exactly what the Blues needed as they taxi onto the national runway with sights on the heavens.

After the Mountaineers (15-14), making their first national tournament appearance in program history, had chopped a 24-point deficit down to seven with 3:01 to play, Jacobs-Jones exploded through a tangle of arms and torsos to lock up an offensive rebound, then elevated through that same maelstrom for a basket plus foul.

His three-point play ended a 19-1 Schreiner run. That was Howell's cue. Whitman's only senior scored on three of the Blues' next four possessions -- letting the shot- and game clock bleed away as he lurked near the midcourt stripe, inducing a sort of hypnosis-by-dribble, before doing what the entire gym knew was coming but no one could stop.

"I just try to get to the paint," Howell said. "I take what the defense gives me."

The opening day of the national tournament took a major toll on highly-ranked teams in Whitman's 16-team sectional. In addition to a loss by its second-ranked rival in the early Sherwood game on Friday, Whitman stood tall while fourth-ranked Washington and eighth-ranked St. John's were knocked out of the tournament on their home floors.


The Blues advanced to a rematch of a 2016-17 regional against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (19-7), whose 17th consecutive victory came at the expense of No. 2 Whitworth (24-4). Whitman faces the Stags at 7 p.m. Saturday for a berth in the sectional round-of-16.

"We told our guys before, at halftime and after: the greatest thing about this tournament is that everyone is a champion," said Bridgeland. "Schreiner has spirit, has an identity, they don't go away."

Howell had 22 points, five assists and four steals, junior Joey Hewitt 13 points, sophomore Trevor Osborne 12 points and junior Ben Beatie 10 for Whitman, which never trailed. It methodically nudged its lead into double-digits by halftime, kept making runs early in the second half, kept gesturing toward a runaway. The lead was 20 points, 55-35, when Howell splashed a 3-pointer on one of junior Austin Butler's team-high eight assists at the 17:54 mark.

It was 23 points, 67-44, when Butler found sophomore Robert Colton in the lane for a basket with 10:40 left.

The lead was 24 just inside the 10-minute mark after first-year Darné Duckett dished to Hewitt for a 3-pointer -- and Duckett's seventh assist.

Led by Keenan Gumbs, one of five seniors on the Schreiner roster, the Mountaineers began attacking and converting, and stringing together stops -- and asserting their national credentials.

"We started making shots, and we only had 20 turnovers," Mountaineers head coach Connor Kuykendall said. "Normally, I'm upset with 20, but that's seven under what Whitman forces" on average.

"We didn't stop playing. We didn't stop competing."

The rebound, put-back and free throw by Jacobs-Jones which ended this vertiginous sequence for Whitman, came as a great relief to the raucous Sherwood crowd but as no surprise to Bridgeland.

"Whenever we have adversity, off the floor or on, Cedric solves it," he said. "He gives us whatever we need."

The 3-pointer has been a mostly complementary weapon in this era of Blues basketball, but Schreiner's package of zone defenses invited the long ball in the first half -- and paid a steep cost.

Osborne made his first three attempts from beyond the arc, and he and Jack Stewart were each 3 for 4 on first-half 3-pointers as Whitman went 9 for 17 on 3s as a team. The Blues moved the ball crisply, leaving shooting windows agape, and rarely had to create looks off the dribble. Butler, Howell and Duckett had four assists each -- against five total for Schreiner.

Howell's 3-pointer opened the scoring and another by Stewart staked the hosts a 6-0 lead. Whitman's cushion reached double-digits on a 7-0 run to the 7:26 mark, with Duckett slithering into and through a defender-dense key for a basket, Butler working in close for a scoop, and Stewart knocking out a 3-pointer on a drive-and-kick from Butler.

The largest first-half lead for the Blues was 15 points. Ellis Jones drilled the Mountaineers' only 3 of the half with 28 seconds left, but Howell knifed through a crease and handed off to a wide-open Butler for a layup inside the half's final tick, and Whitman led 46-34 at recess.

The Blues cooled off from outside and finished 12 of 29 on 3-pointers for the game. A renewed commitment to attacking the basket helped Whitman make 23 of 43 shots inside the arc.

Stewart and Jacobs-Jones (seven rebounds) added nine points each. Jacobs-Jones, Butler and Beatie had three offensive rebounds apiece.