WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Point guard Josh Duckworth and post player Ben Eisenhardt combined for 59 points and 74 percent shooting from the field, leading the Whitman College Missionaries to a 93-77 win over the visiting George Fox University Bruins in a big Northwest Conference men's basketball game Friday night here at the Sherwood Center.

George Fox saw its four-game winning streak snapped in falling to 13-9 overall and 8-5 in the conference, while Whitman improved to 16-7 overall and 10-4 in the NWC.  The Missionaries thus took a game-and-a-half lead over the Bruins for second place in the league standings.  The Bruins remained alone in third, however, when fourth-place Lewis & Clark College lost at the University of Puget Sound 92-85 and dropped into a tie with Pacific University, both at 7-6, which won 85-60 at Linfield College.

The Bruins took an early 4-1 lead on consecutive layups by Sean Atkins and Jon Adrian, but Duckworth nailed a three-pointer to tie it, sparking a 12-0 run that gave the Missionaries a 13-4 lead five minutes into the game.  Duckworth's steal and dunk broke the 4-4 tie and was followed by a three by Drew Raher and back-to-back baskets in the lane by Eisenhardt.

The Bruins closed within four at 20-16 on a Matt Zandbergen fast-break layup at the 11:38 mark, but the Missionaries, utilizing a full-court press and quick shots once they got the ball back, extended their lead to double digits for the first time at 26-16 with 10:46 left after consecutive threes by Peter Clark and Raher.  Eisenhart scored the last two buckets of the half to give the Missionaries their largest lead of 50-35.

Adrian hit consecutive back-door layups to open the second half as the Bruins climbed within 11, but Duckworth answered with a three and Clark hit a layup to give the Missionaries their first 16-point lead of 55-39 with 18:13 left.  A 13-3 run by the Bruins, capped by an Atkins three, brought the Bruins within six at 58-52 with 14:21 remaining, but that was as close as they would get as Eisenhardt hit back-to-back layups and two free throws to bump the margin back up to 12.

The Whitman lead stayed in double figures most of the way thereafter, though the Bruins did get within eight once at 66-58 on a Spence Bolte layup with 10:37 to play.  The Missionaries' largest lead was 17 points at 93-76 on a pair of Ryan Gilkey free throws with 14 seconds to go.

The Bruins out-shot the Missionaries from the floor .582 (32-55) to .552 (32-58), but Whitman made four more threes (7-3) and had a big advantage at the free-throw line, making 22-29 to 10-14 for George Fox.  Whitman had a 34-20 margin in rebounds as well, including 10 offensive boards.

Atkins led the Bruins with 24 points before fouling out, hitting 10-13 from the field with a pair of threes.  Bolte and Anthony Sanchez chipped in with 12 apiece and Adrian scored eight.  Bolte and Seth Brent were the rebound leaders with four each, while Sanchez, Bolte, and A.J. Grant handed out two assists apiece.

Duckworth scored 30 points on 11-13 from the field, 3-4 on threes, and 5-6 from the line, while Eisenhardt added 29 on 12-18 field goals and 5-8 free throws.  Clark and Gilkey added 10 points each.  Dominic Lippi was Whitman's top rebounder with six, and Duckworth and Raher had two assists apiece.

NEXT: George Fox visits league-leading and third-ranked Whitworth University (20-2, NWC 12-1) Saturday at 8:00 p.m., with the Pirates seeking to clinch the NWC title outright … Whitman goes to Willamette University next Friday, also at 8:00 p.m. … Both games will be preceded by NWC women's games at 6:00 p.m.