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Whitman College Athletics

Schedule

Team
84
Winner Walla Walla WW 1-2
73
Whitman Whitm 2-7,1-1 NWC
Winner
Walla Walla WW
1-2
84
Final
73
Whitman Whitm
2-7,1-1 NWC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Walla Walla WW 43 41 84
Whitman Whitm 37 36 73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's Basketball Upended At Home By Walla Walla U

WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Nikola Trifunovic scored a team high 20 points for the Blues but it wasn't enough to stop a dominant post presence by the Wolves as the Whitman College men's basketball team fell 84-73 to crosstown foe Walla Walla University on Thursday night at the Sherwood Center.

The Blues (2-7) could not repeat their dominant 19-point victory over the Wolves nearly three weeks ago. Zayne Browning scored a game-high 21 points for WWU who outscored Whitman in the painted area 54-24. 

Walter Lum added 17 points and Weston Crump chipped in 14 points and five rebounds for the Blues who outshot the Wolves from beyond the arc with seven more three pointers, but couldn't stop WWU down in the post.

Trifunovic got the Blues off on the right start with an early three pointer, but WWU quickly responded and established control. Back-to-back jumpers from Browning and Andrew Vaughan capped a 10-0 run as the Wolves took a 12-6 lead just over five minutes into the game.

As the half reached its midway point, Whitman began to heat up from downtown. Crump and Lum hit a pair of three pointers to shave the deficit to 22-21 with 8:33 to play. WWU turned the tide though after Kiandre Gaddy twice worked his way into the paint and scored to put his team up 35-26 with 3:33 remaining until halftime. Gaddy scored on an impressive alley-oop dunk late in the half but Walter Lum nailed a buzzer beater from half court to make it a 43-37 score at the break.

The second half saw the Wolves never relinquish the lead they established in the first 20 minutes. Caleb Golden hit back-to-back shots as part of an 8-0 run that helped his team take a 63-49 lead with 12:13 to play. 

Ethan Ford's layup extended the lead to 16 points with 8:06 to play but the Blues methodically chipped away at the lead. Trifunovic hit a straightaway three to bring the lead back to single digits with 5:25 remaining. Alex Pape kept the rally going, later draining a corner three pointer to make it a 71-65 ball game with 4:27 to play.

That would be as close as Whitman would get as WWU pushed its advantage back up to double digits and won going away.

Whitman is back in action on Saturday, Dec. 18 when it hosts Schreiner University at 4:00 p.m.

 
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