WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Visiting Whitworth won the season's first Battle of Whits, and in the process moved into a tie for first place in the Northwest Conference men's basketball standings with a 72-58 win over Whitman on Tuesday night in the Sherwood Center.

The Pirates (9-5 overall, 4-1 NWC) won their fourth straight game by double digits, while the Blues dropped to 11-3, 4-1.  Whitman came into the game averaging better than 83 points per game.

The Pirates looks shaky in the opening 90 seconds, committing turnovers on their first three possessions as Whitman took a 7-0 lead on a three-pointer by Ali Efe Isik.  Whitworth settled down and held the Blues scoreless over the next 6:30 while scoring 16 straight points.  JT McDermott had six points in that stretch.  The Pirates went up 27-15 on a Michael Smith free throw before Whitman woke up with eight straight points, pulling within 27-23 on Jander Cline's layup.  Rowan Anderson answered with a three-pointer for the Bucs and Whitworth took a 34-26 lead into the locker rooms.  The Pirates made 48% (14-29) of their shots in the opening half, while holding the Blues to 37% (10-27). 

Whitworth never let Whitman gain ground in the second half, scoring the opening basket to retake a double-digit lead and stretching that margin for most of the rest of the period.  McDermott's layup gave the Bucs a 47-36 advantage six and a half minutes into the second half.  After the Blues pulled within 49-39, Whitworth scored five straight, capped by Smith's three-pointer, for a 54-39 margin.  Whitworth eventually went up by as many as 15 points, the final time with less than a minute to play. 

The Pirates were shooting above 50% for much of the second half, but finished 11-23 after halftime for a final percentage of 48.1%.  Whitworth outrebounded the NWC's top rebounding team 33-29 and held the Blues to only 39.3% (22-56) from the field and 6-20 (30%) from beyond the arc.

McDermott led three Pirates in double figures with 18 points and also led the team with nine boards.  Jerry Twenge scored 13 points, while Anderson finished with 12. 

Whitworth held Xzavier Lino, Whitman's leading scorer, to only seven points in the game.  Cline came off the bench to lead the Blues with 15 points and Jai Deshpande scored 14.

The Pirates will close the week by hosting George Fox in the Fieldhouse on Saturday night.