SALEM, Ore. -  In the midst of a stellar season and an equally impressive career, senior wing Austin Butler etched his name into Whitman basketball lore, scoring his 1000th career point to highlight a dominant 120-78 win by the No. 3 Whitman College men's basketball team over Willamette on Friday night in Northwest Conference action at Cone Field House.

As the team's most consistent shooter, Butler shot 4-6 from the field for a modest 10 points, content to let his teammates shoulder the load in the dominant win that kept the Blues (17-1, 8-0 NWC) at the top of the league standings. Darne Duckett led the way with a game-high 20 points with Joey Hewitt adding 16 points, four rebounds and four assists. Cedric Jacobs-Joneshad his way in the paint to the tune of 12 points on 6-8 shooting from the floor.

Displaying Coach Bridgeland's depth, he went deep into his bench early, outscoring the Bearcat reserves by 31 points with a 56-25 margin. The hallmark of Blues men's basketball was on display, forcing 25 Bearcat turnovers leading to a 36-13 discrepancy in points off turnovers.

Jordan Jenkins led the Bearcat (5-13, 2-7 NWC) effort, hitting all 10 of his free throws for a team-high 18 points. Jonathan Watts added 17 points and a game-high seven rebounds with Alec Barba chipping in 15 points on 5-7 shooting.

The Blues dominated from the opening tip, hitting on seven of their first 10 shots to build an 18-7 lead five minutes into the game. Trevor Osborne then got in on the action off the bench nailing back-to-back three pointers to push the lead to 24-15. Whitman continued its hot shooting with consecutive baskets from Hewitt and Duckett extending the lead to 14 points nearing the midway point of the first half.

The Bearcats kept the lead below 20 points for a decent chunk of time, but after a pair of and-one buckets from both Andrew Vickers and Duckett, the lead had swelled to 25 points with 1:48 to play. The Blues unleashed a 17-2 half-closing run and led by 30 points at the break.

The second half saw Whitman lead 80-50 with 13:29 before a 9-0 run put the game to bed and Coach Bridgeland worked his reserves into the game for good. Jack Kath's three pointer put his team up 40 points with just under two minutes remaining to cap the impressive win.

The Blues return to the floor on Saturday with a visit to Pacific (Ore.). Tip is set for 6:00 p.m. following the women's game.