WALLA WALLA, Wash. - The Lewis & Clark men's basketball team had a tough time finding its stride on Saturday night, falling 87-58 at Whitman in Northwest Conference action. 

The Pioneers still have a firm grip on third place in the conference standings despite consecutive losses. The Pios are now 11-8 on the season and 6-4 in the NWC. The Missionaries, who completed the season sweep of the Pioneers, are currently in second place in the conference with a 13-5 record and 7-2 NWC standing. 

Cannen Roberson, who once again came off the bench for the Pioneers, led the team with 14 points. The junior was 6-of-11 from the floor, including one made three-pointer. Serg Ovchinnikov knocked down 12 points, while Cory Coombe netted 11 points.  Jason Luhnow ended the night with a team-high six rebounds for L&C, while also hitting three long-range shots for nine points. The junior also finished with a game-high five assists and a steal.

The Missionaries had five players scoring in double-figures with Christian McDonald leading the way with 16 points. Evan Martin and Jackson Clough each netted 15 points, while Matt Mounier had 14 and Phillip Chircu had 11.

Whitman struck first with a three from Clough just :30 seconds into the game, but Ovchinnikov responded seconds later with a three of his own to tie things up. Coombe gave the Pioneers their largest lead of the game at the 12:59 mark with his only three-pointer of the game.

It took a minute for either team to score again but this time it was Whitman who recaptured the lead, making it a 12-11 contest. Back-to-back Justin Leathers free-throws gave the Pios the lead back one final time with 11:04 remaining in the first half.

Sure shooting from Whitman would allow the Missionaries to cruise to a double-digit advantage at the break.

Despite their best efforts, the Pioneers would never cut the deficit to less than 10 points in the second half. Whitman increase its lead to 20 points with 12:39 remaining in the contest with a layup by Chircu. Throughout the rest of the half the Pios would only manage to cut the Missionary lead to under 20 points twice.  

Lewis & Clark takes on Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma, Wash. on Friday, Feb. 6 with tip set for 8 p.m.