TACOMA, Wash. -
Walter Lum scored a season-high 25 points,
Xzavier Lino scored 18 more and the Whitman College men's basketball team opened the Northwest Conference season with a solid 79-67 win at Pacific Lutheran on Friday night at Olson Auditorium.
Lum and Lino led a hot-shooting Blues team with 5-8 and 4-5 three-point shooting nights, respectively. As a team, Whitman (6-1, 1-0 NWC) shot an impressive 50% from the floor and 45% from three. Nikola Trifunovic chipped in 12 points off the bench and Lum handed out a team-high four assists.
All but one starter scored in double figures for the Lutes (2-3, 0-1 NWC) who were led by Sam Noland's 16 points and Jordan Thomas who scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Three of Whitman's first four buckets were via the three pointer. Lum opened the game with a triple and Lino and Grant Hunt hit back-to-back to put the Blues up 11-4 with 17:23 to play in the first half.Â
The Lutes responded as Noland's three pointer sparked an 8-0 run for PLU who took a 15-13 lead. Whitman took the lead back when Jai Deshpande and Trifunovic hit from distance and gave their team a seven-point lead with 8:01 to play. Noland later tied the game with a three pointer but back-to-back layups from Lum helped the Blues take a 34-32 lead into the locker room.
Whitman opened the second half on a tear. Sean McCurdy's three pointer to open the period put PLU up by one, but the Blues responded with an 18-4 run. Lum nailed a pair of three pointers during that stretch and Trifunovic closed it with a triple of his own as the Blues took a 52-39 lead with 14:14 to play.
The Blues led by double digits most of the rest of the way. PLU cut the lead to nine points after a pair of Noland free throws inside of three minutes, but Hunt nailed a dagger three pointer with 1:30 to play and the Blues held on for the win.
The Blues will look to keep it rolling when they square off against Puget Sound on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 6:00 p.m.
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