PORTLAND, Ore. - Andrew Vickers scored a team-high 18 points, Robert Colton added 13 points and 10 rebounds but it couldn't stop the Whitman College men's basketball team from dropping its first Northwest Conference game, a 90-83 defeat to Lewis & Clark, Saturday night at the Pamplin Sports Center.

The loss brings one of the nation's most historic streaks to an end as the defeat snaps Whitman's 67-game conference winning streak. The loss leaves the Blues (16-5, 11-1 NWC) tied with Whitworth at the top of the NWC standings.

Darne Duckett and Jaron Kirkley added 16 and 15 points, respectively, for the Blues whose Achilles heel was a 15-28 (54%) night at the free throw line. Whitman did force the Pios into 17 turnovers while committing only nine of its own and turned them into 20 points, but that couldn't overcome an average shooting night from the floor.

Brenden Patrick led all scorers with 24 points for the Pios and Zeke Crawford added a double double with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Crawford had the hot hand for the Pios to open the game. He connected on his first three shot attempts while grabbing three rebounds to help his team to an 8-2 lead just under four minutes into the game.

Whitman continued to trail but tied the score midway through the first half. Kirkley scored back-to-back buckets before Nikola Trifunovic's layup evened matters at 14-14 with 11:27 to play. Back-to-back layups from Duckett gave Whitman its first lead, but a Patrick three pointer regained the lead for Lewis & Clark at 30-26. The Pios closed the half on a 10-1 run to take a six-point lead into the break.

The Blues battled in the second half, falling behind as many as 13 points but stormed back to make a game of it. Buckets from Duckett and Kirkley and a big three pointer from Trevor Osborne keyed a 14-1 run to tie up the game at 56-56 with 12:09 to play. The Pios regained the lead but the Blues fought until the very end, shaving the lead to four points on a late Vickers jumper. Time would run out on Whitman as the Pios walked away with the win.

The Blues look to regroup with three straight Northwest Conference home games over the next 10 days. First up is matchup against George Fox this Friday at 8:00 p.m.