Walla Walla, Wash. – The Missionaries moved closer to securing a home playoff game with just two opponents left in the regular season by defeating third-place George Fox at home tonight 93 – 77. Junior point-guard Josh Duckworth tallied 30 (two-points shy of his career-high) and fellow junior, forward Ben Eisenhardt, tied his career high by pouring in 29 points, as the Whits improved to 10 – 4 in conference and 16 – 7 overall.
The Bruins fall to 8 – 5 and 13 – 9. For complete Northwest Conference Standings click Standings.
Tonight's victory was also a nice send-off to the Missionaries' four seniors: Drew Raher, Peter Clark, Ryan Gilkey and Ignas Pavilonis. The quartet comprises a senior class that has won more games than any other in the 88-year history of Whitman Men's Basketball.
"This was our first full recruiting class", said Whitman head coach Eric Bridgeland. "This was all about the seniors tonight. It didn't matter who we played. It didn't matter where we were in the standings. It was all about sending our seniors off with a great effort from our entire team."
The Missionaries got out to an early 11 – 4 lead, courtesy of a trey and coast-to-coast layup by Duckworth, followed by a three-ball from Raher and a tip-in by Eisenhardt. The Whits stretched it to a 13 -point margin, 40 – 27, when Duckworth hit on three-straight shots, capped by a fall-way jumper with 5:04 remaining in the half. "Duck" would finish with sixteen in the first half, Eisenhardt with twelve, and the Whits entered the intermission with a 50 – 35 lead.
"It was nice to have Josh Duckworth back. I thought he was great from the get-go", noted Bridgeland. "Peter Clark hit an early three to get us going and Drew Raher also added a solid three. It was just a great team effort."
George Fox scored two quick buckets out of halftime, two layups by wing Jon Adrian, to cut the lead to eleven, and when Sean Atkins hit from beyond the arc with 14:21 remaining, the Bruins had closed to within six -- Atkins led George Fox with 24 points on 11 of 13 shooting. But that was as close as the Bruins would get.
Whitman quickly stretched their advantage back to double-digits when Ben Eisenhardt hit two free-throws to make it 64 – 52 with 12:57 left in the game and saw its lead cut to single-digits only once, again, while enjoying 15-point advantages twice before seeing final 16-point difference.
Duckworth who missed Tuesday night's win over No. 3 Whitworth due to the flu, garnered his 30 points on 11 of 13 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the line. Eisenhardt was 12 of 18 from the field and 5 of 8 from the charity stripe. The Whits also got 10 from, both, Clark and Gilkey.
Whitman now awaits the outcome of tomorrow night's game in Spokane between the Bruins and Whitworth regarding securing a home NWC tournament game and also their hopes of still catching the Pirates. The Missionaries finish the regular season next Friday and Saturday at Willamette and Linfield.
Contact:
Andrew Holt
Whitman Sports Information Director
509.527.5902