McMINNVILLE, Ore. -
Isaiah Amato dropped a game-high 18 points,
Jacob Fotu added 16 more off the bench and the Whitman College men's basketball team closed the Northwest Conference regular season with a 78-70 win over Linfield on Friday night.
Whitman endured its midseason struggles, but battled to close the season with three straight - and critical - wins to secure a spot in the NWC Tournament set to take place in Spokane next weekend.
The Blues (12-13, 10-6 NWC) shot a solid 51% from the field and turned the ball over only 10 times, making it difficult for the Wildcats to pull out a win. Grant Hunt and Ali Efe Isik both added 11 points with Efe Isik chipping in four assists and four rebounds.
Cade Collins led Linfield off the bench, putting up 15 points and grabbing five rebounds, both team highs.
The Blues had the three ball going in the first half as Alex Pape, Djordje Lazarevic, Hunt and Amato all hit three pointers to help the Blues to an 18-4 lead with 13:34 to play in the first half. Linfield made a game of it however and whittled the lead to four points by halftime.
Linfield grabbed the lead early in the second half but the Blues took it right back and led by as many as eight points. Jack Greenwood's three pointer inside of five minutes to play cut the lead to only one point, but Whitman recovered and pulled away for the win.
Hosted by top-seeded Whitworth, the Northwest Conference Tournament gets underway on Friday, Feb. 28 with matchups and game times to be announced.
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