WALLA WALLA, Wash. -
Jai Deshpande scored a team-high 17 points,
Murphy Caffo posted a double double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to lead the Whitman College men's basketball team to an 89-67 win over Lewis & Clark on Saturday night at the Sherwood Center.
Caffo was dominant in the post for the Blues who improved to a perfect 4-0 in Northwest Conference play. He constantly got position in the post against a smaller Pio front court which eventually led to open looks by his teammates. The result was a 53% shooting night for the Blues (11-2, 4-0 NWC) including 45% in three pointers.
Brenden Patick led the scoring effort for Lewis & Clark with his game-high 18 points. Grant Stewart added 13 points off the bench.
The Blues set the tone for the dominant win after scoring the game's first 11 points. Caffo kicked off the run with a layup, then Walter Lum and Grant Hunt each drained a three pointer and Whitman led 11-0 with 16:46 remaining in the half.Â
The Pios answered with a run of their own. Tyler McFarland's three pointer got his team on the board before back-to-back layups from Sebastian DePrez whittled the Whitman lead to two points approaching the midway point of the first half.
Whitman then unleashed a 17-2 run that landed it a 28-11 lead with 8:34 to play. Caffo and Hunt both hit from the floor to push the lead to five points, then Nikola Trifunovic and Deshpande both hit back-to-back shots to put the Blues in firm control. Stewart later hit consecutive shots for L&C to shave the deficit to 10 points, but Whitman ramped the lead back up by halftime, this time north of 20 points.
The deficit proved too much for the Pios to overcome in the second half as Whitman never let its lead slip below 20 points. Late in the half, Jander Cline and Weston Crump both dialed long distance to make it an 80-51 lead with 6:03 to play.
The Blues have a quick turnaround with a midweek home contest against rival Whitworth on Tuesday, Jan. 10. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.
Â
#GoWhitman
Â
