WALLA WALLA, Wash. -
Xzavier Lino delivered a double double with 23 points and 10 rebounds,
Jander Cline contributed 16 points off the bench and the Whitman College men's basketball team earned a hard-fought 86-81 victory over George Fox in Northwest Conference action on Friday night at the Sherwood Center.
With Jai Deshpande sidelined, the Blues (12-3, 5-1 NWC) needed extra bench production and found it in Cline's solid effort and a big game from Weston Crump. Crump drained two second-half threes and finished with seven points and six rebounds. Alex Pape chipped in six points, three rebounds and four assists off the Whitman bench as well and Walter Lum stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, a game-high six assists and four rebounds.
Momo Stokes shared game-high scoring honors with 23 points and Devon Walker added 17 points for the Bruins (3-11, 2-3 NWC). Austin Clark scored 16 points and Chris Nickelberry chipped in a game-high 13 rebounds.Â
George Fox came out of the gates on fire, hitting three of its first four shots to take a 9-2 lead less than two minutes into the game. The Blues got it going soon enough as Murphy Caffo and Grant Hunt both got to the hoop, then Nikola Trifunovic nailed a three pointer to shave the lead to 11-9 with 14:32 to play in the first half.
The three pointers then began to fall for both teams, especially for the Bruins as Walker nailed a pair to help his team go up 25-17 with 10:25 to play. Stokes got in on three-point shooting action as well, hitting from distance to push the lead to as many as nine points.
Whitman then came alive and went on an 11-1 run to take its first lead of the game. Lum drained a corner three-pointer before Pape scored on a driving layup. Aidan von Buchwaldt capped the run with a three pointer to give the Blues a 34-33 lead with 4:09 to play. The Bruins steadied the tide however and carried a six-point lead into the break.
The Whitman offense was on display in the second half. Trailing by nine, the Blues started to see their shots fall as Lino hit from distance then completed a three-point play the old fashioned way. Lum drilled a pair of three pointers, finishing with four for the game, and Crump did the same as the Blues extended to a five-point lead with 12:56 to play.
Lino's three pointer with 5:39 to play put the Blues up nine, but George Fox did not go away. James Moore's three pointer shaved the deficit to two points with 3:49 to play, and Clark did the same to put the score at 80-79 with 1:13 remaining. The Blues held on though as Cline hit a pair of key free throws and Lino scored and hit a pair of free throws to put the game on ice.
Whitman is back in action next weekend at Linfield (Friday, Jan. 20) and Willamette (Saturday, Jan. 21).
