Newberg, Oregon
The Whitman Blues basketball team got points from 12 different players on Saturday night in route to a 91-68 victory over the George Fox Bruins Saturday night. With the win, the Blues are now guaranteed at least a share of the Northwest Conference championship with two games left to play in the regular season.
It was a highly contested game in the opening minutes, as the two teams would trade baskets early on. George Fox (7-17, 6-8 NWC) took an early 5-2 lead on a pair of free throws before Whitman (19-4, 12-2 NWC) went on an 8-0 run to take a 10-5 lead. The Bruins then tied the game at 10 with five points of their own to knot it at 10 each six minutes into the game.
Jai Deshpande then hit a three and
Walter Lum immediately followed with a steal that led to a
Jander Cline layup to push the score to 15-10, but would become 15-13 after a layup by Davon Walker. Then Deshpande book-ended the under 12 media timeout with a layup and a three-pointer to extend the Blues out to a 20-13 lead they would never relinquish.
The scoring spurt by Whitman concluded with a 9-0 run, seven of those by Jai, before a layup by Chris Nickelberry made it a 9-point game with 9:32 left in the first half. Over the next 4:40 of game time, Whitman would score 20 unanswered points in which
Ali Efe Isik, Lum, and
Grant Hunt dug a hole for the Bruins they would never recover from. The Blues trio combined for all 20 points, four rebounds, and a steal during the stretch, capped on the three pointer from Hunt, on the receiving end of a kickout pass from
Jander Cline to make it 44-15 Whitman with 4:52 to play, prompting a timeout from George Fox. By the end of the first half, Whitman held a 53-23 lead, effectively putting the game out of reach.
The lead allowed the Blues to extend into their bench, and it paid off as Whitman had 53 points on the night from their bench, highlighted by a game high 17 from Deshpande. The Blues would end up having 16 players see the court during the game, 11 of them recording double digit minutes. Three Whitman players reached double figures, and 10 different players scored at least five points in the contest. Lum and Efe Isik had 10 a piece, while
Jander Cline had 8, followed by four players (Hunt, Lino,
Weston Crump,
Marko Mihajlovic) with seven,
Alex Pape and
Nikola Trifunovic each had six, while Caffo chipped in four and
Sean Johnson added a bucket for good measure.
Whitman will have its first opportunity to clinch the Northwest Conference championship crown at the Sherwood center on Friday night vs. the Willamette Bearcats, with tip-off scheduled for 8 p.m.
