WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Joey Hewitt scored 17 points, Darne Duckett added 16 more and the Whitman College men's basketball team recovered from a slow start to take down LeTourneau University in the team's season opener Sunday evening at the Sherwood Athletic Center in the opening game of the Courtyard Marriott Tipoff. 

Cedric Jacobs-Jones added 13 points and Austin Butler contributed team highs of six rebounds and four assists.

Nate West was the high scorer for LETU (1-1) dropping a game-high 25 points. Justin Moore scored 24 points and Caleb Loggins added 18.

The Blues struggled early and trailed after a three pointer from West and a driving layup from Moore gave the YellowJackets a 12-4 lead just over two minutes into the game. Moore's layup pushed the margin to nine points but the Blues would then catch fire. Duckett's three pointer ignited a 7-0 run that shaved the deficit to 15-13 as the game approached its first media timeout.

The Blues would then truly heat up as triples from Hewitt and Jack Stewart highlighted a 12-0 run and gave Whitman a 26-22 lead. The YellowJackets stemmed the tide but Hewitt ramped it up again with another couple of three pointers giving the Blues a 10-point lead with 6:40 remaining in the half.

Whitman never trailed in the second half and, after a Hewitt steal ignited a fast break layup from Duckett, the Blues had their largest lead of 20 points with just under 13 minutes to play.

LETU would not let the game get out of hand however and, after Moore's free throw, trailed the Blues 90-79 with just over five minutes to play. Jacobs-Jones then caught fire, scoring the next seven points including a corner three to all but put the game to bed

The Courtyard Marriott Tipoff continues next weekend for the Blues when they face Sul Ross State on Friday, Nov. 16. Tipoff at the Sherwood Center is set for 8:00 p.m.