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Whitman College Athletics

Schedule

Andrew Vickers
85
Winner Whitman WHITM 19-7, 13-3 NWC
70
Linfield LIN-M 20-6, 14-2 NWC
Winner
Whitman WHITM
19-7, 13-3 NWC
85
Final
70
Linfield LIN-M
20-6, 14-2 NWC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Whitman WHITM 27 58 85
Linfield LIN-M 25 45 70

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's Basketball Turns Back Linfield, Advances To Fourth Straight Title Game

McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Darne Duckett scored 25 points, Jaron Kirkley added 20 more and the Whitman College men's basketball team showed the swag of a team that has been there and done that, extracting a gritty 85-70 road win over Linfield on Thursday night in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.

Robert Colton added eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Blues (19-7) who advanced to their fourth straight NWC Tournament Championship. Whitman will travel to Spokane to square off against in-state rival Whitworth for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

All but four of Duckett's points came in the second half when he and the Blues lit up the Wildcats for 58 points. He and Kirkley missed only three shots between them in the final 20 minutes as Whitman led by as many as 20 points before winning going away.

Neither team found much success at the rim in the first half. Whitman was just 1-10 in three pointers and Linfield shot only 27% from the floor overall. Still, it were the Blues who got off to a fast start. Duckett sandwiched a pair of baskets around a Trevor Osborne three pointer to put the Blues up 13-2 less than five minutes into the game.

As strong home teams do, Linfield struck back to cut the deficit to three points at the midway point of the first half. Whitman quickly responded and pushed the lead back up to double digits at 24-14 with 5:21 to play. Will Burghardt rallied the Wildcats and evened the game at 25-25 with his three pointer and Whitman had to settle for a two-point halftime lead.

Both teams found the range in the early going of the second half, but where the Wildcats slowed down, the Blues did not. Brian Warinner connected on a three pointer to cap a 16-3 Whitman run and put his team up 54-38 with 12:36 to play. Back-to-back Kirkley layups pushed the advantage to 60-40 with 11:01.

Grant Gibb's three pointer shaved the deficit to 11 points with 6:09 to play, but the Wildcats got no closer. The Blues kept them at arm's length and coasted into the title game.

Whitworth and Whitman meet for the NWC title for the fourth straight year this Saturday, Feb. 29. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
 
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