PORTLAND, Ore. - The Lewis & Clark men's basketball team fell to Whitman 77-62 on Friday night in the teams Northwest Conference opener, despite a second half comeback by the Pioneers. 

The Pioneers move to 5-5 on the season and 0-1 in conference play. The Missionaries are now 7-3 on the season and 1-0 in the NWC. 

Serg Ovchinnikov led all players with a game-high 21 points, while collecting six rebounds and two steals. Carl Appleton pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for the Pioneers, while Jason Luhnow led all players with seven assists.

Christian McDonald scored a team-high 20 points for the Missionaries and Matt Mounier netted 18 in the win.

The first half began with the Missionaries in control, jumping out to an early 14-4 lead in the first five minutes of action. Whitman continued to pile it on, taking a 31-16 advantage with 7:48 left to play until halftime.

Lewis & Clark rebounded with an 11-2 run toward the end of the half. Ovchinnikov capped off the rally with a three pointer with 2:38 to go, cutting the Pio deficit to 33-27. Whitman managed to hit a few more baskets before the end of the period for a 39-30 advantage at the intermission.

Lewis & Clark came out of the gates in the second half ready to go, going on a 14-3 run that gave them a 44-42 edge with 15:15 remaining.The two sides would swap possession of the lead until the 8:44 mark when Whitman took the lead back for good. The Pioneers would make several surges throughout the end of the second half but would manage to get no closer than six the rest of the way.

The Pioneers host Whitworth at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 3.