WALLA WALLA, Wash. - The Lewis & Clark men's basketball team picked up its first Northwest Conference Semifinal victory under head coach Dinari Foreman on Thursday night, defeating the Whitman Missionaries 84-73 with help from a career-high 27 points from junior Jason Luhnow. 

The Pioneers will now travel to Spokane, Wash., to take on the Whitworth Pirates for the Northwest Conference Championship on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. The Pirates are currently ranked 16th in the country. 

Luhnow hit 8-of-10 from the floor, making a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range, while also sinking 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Defensively, the junior guard collected seven rebounds, while dishing out three assists and blocking one Missionary shot. 

Jonathan Boddie had a solid game off the bench for the Pioneers, netting a career-high 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Junior Serg Ovchinnikov also ended the night in double-figures for the Pioneers, finishing the game with 12 points. Carl Appleton, Cory Coombe and Cannen Roberson all finished the game with eight points, while Appleton led all players with nine boards. 

Christian McDonald led the Missionaries with 14 points, while both Tochi Oti and Jackson Clough each netted 13. 

Whitman got on the board first and ran up its largest lead of the game at the 11:34 mark, making it a 24-18 contest. Ovchinnikov tied the game 24-24 with 10:02 on the clock, before handing the Pios the lead less than a minute later with a three-pointer. 

The two sides traded baskets the rest of the half, with the Pioneers taking a slim 43-40 lead into the intermission. 

Overall the game saw the score knotted up nine times and possession of the lead change seven times. 

One of the ties came at the start of the second half with Clough draining a three-pointer to make it a 43-43 contest. With the game tied at 63-63, Luhnow hit a three with 7:37 left in the game to hand the Pioneers the lead for good. Lewis & Clark picked up its largest lead of the game in the final five second after back-to-back Luhnow free-throws.