PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College men's basketball used a 12-0 run to take a 24-12 lead midway through the first half and never let visiting Whitman College regain the lead ,on Saturday in a crucial 66-62 Northwest Conference victory. 
 
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 66, Whitman 62
(Lewis & Clark 11-10, Northwest Conference 7-5) 
(Whitman 9-12, NWC 7-5) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
A night after dropping their second-straight conference home game, Lewis & Clark snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Blues to move back into a tie for second place in the NWC. 
 
Seniors Isaac Ticeson and Sam Henderson led the way for Lewis & Clark who earned their first win over the Blues since February 8, 2020. 
 
Ticeson scored a game-high 20 points and added 12 rebounds for his first double-double as a Pioneer. The senior was unstoppable on offense, finishing 9-12 (75 percent) from the field, to go along with four assists and three offensive rebounds. He tacked on two blocks and two steals. 
 
Henderson added a huge game of his own. The senior finished with 19 points on 7-12 shooting and hit all four of his free throws. Henderson tacked on four rebounds and three of Lewis & Clark's six blocks. 
 
Fellow senior Mikey Medlock Jr. was the final Pioneer in double-figures. Medlock Jr. converted three three-point plays in the first half alone, to finish with 12 points. 
 
Grant Hunt (19 points) and Isaiah Amato (18 points) led the Blues who suffered their fifth loss in their past six games. Whitman had started the conference season 6-0. 
 
Whitman jumped out to a slightly better start and pulled out to a slim 11-7 lead with 13:52 to play. Lewis & Clark would counter with five of the next six points to tie the game at 12-12 with 12:44 to play. 
 
The Pioneers would push their advantage and use a 12-0 run to open a 24-12 lead with 9:04 to go in the half. Ticeson and Taien Jackson opened the run with back-to-back baskets and Medlock Jr. converted a 3-point play to make it 19-12. After a Griffin Datcher IV jumper, Medlock Jr. added another 3-point play to give Lewis & Clark a 12-point advantage. 
 
Whitman would immediately have an answer. The Blues held Lewis & Clark to two points over the next four-plus minutes to shave the deficit to 26-24. The visitors would eventually tie the game at 29-29, only for Lewis & Clark to push their edge back to eight late in the half. Hunt hit a buzzer-beating layup to make it 39-33 Lewis & Clark at the break. 
 
The second half was a cagey affair with both teams finishing below 30 points for the half. 
 
Lewis & Clark led by three possessions for much of the half, before Whitman cut the deficit to 55-53 with 8:44 left. From there points would really be hard to come by, as Lewis & Clark would never push their advantage past five points.
 
With the Pioneers clinging to a two-point lead with just over two minutes to play, Ticeson hit a layup off a Jackson assist to make it 62-58. Amato cut the deficit back to two with 43 seconds left, but Ticeson found Nate Berg late in the shot clock for a layup to extend the lead back to 64-60 with 16 seconds left. 
 
Hunt hit a layup to get it back within two but Henderson calmly sank both free throws on a one-on-one opportunity to seal the game. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Lewis & Clark shot 68.0 percent (17-25) in the first half and finished the game shooting 58.7 percent (27-46). The Pioneers only hit two 3-pointers (2-7) but drained 10 of their 12 free throws (83.3 percent). 
• Ticeson (20 points) and Henderson (19 points) each finished with their second-most points in a single-game this season. Ticeson is the first Pioneer with multiple 20-point games this season. Henderson is the only other Lewis & Clark player to reach the mark this year. 
• A day after holding the lead for less than a minute, Lewis & Clark led for 33:14 of tonight's contest. Whitman only led for 2:21 – all in the first half. 
• The Pioneers finished with a 46-36 edge in second-chance points and 16-12 lead in bench points. 
• Saturday's win was Lewis & Clark's second win in the past 18 meetings. Whitman won the first meeting this season by a 66-42 margin. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will travel to the University of Puget Sound on Friday night at 6 p.m. The Loggers are currently tied for fifth place in the NWC at 6-6, just one game back of the Pioneers.