WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Senior Justin White scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting as Lewis & Clark College men's basketball led from the opening possession in a 68-58 Northwest Conference win at Whitman College on Saturday at Sherwood Center.
 
THE BASICS
 
Lewis & Clark 68, Whitman 58
Lewis & Clark (12-11, 8-6 NWC)
Whitman (9-14, 4-10 NWC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
White added three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. Senior Kody Uyesugi finished with nine points, six rebounds and two assists, with all three field goals coming from beyond the arc. Sophomore Donovan Beard scored nine points off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting.
 
Senior Taien Jackson went 4-for-5 from the field for eight points and grabbed four rebounds. Sophomore Marcus Bast contributed six points, four assists, a steal and a block. Junior Yigit Arcan added six points and three rebounds off the bench.
 
Lewis & Clark jumped ahead early. Bast opened the scoring with a driving layup, Uyesugi followed with a 3-pointer, and Jackson converted back-to-back fast-break layups to push the lead to 9-4 in the first three minutes. Whitman called a timeout, but the River Otters kept building. A layup from junior Jammial Hicks Jr. at the 12:36 mark made it 15-6, and a Bast turnaround jumper extended the lead to 17-6.
 
Whitman cut the margin to eight on a Marcel Elicagaray 3-pointer at 10:55, but Lewis & Clark answered with a dunk from junior Shemar O'Roy-Ford and consecutive Arcan baskets to push the lead back to double figures. Lewis & Clark carried a 36-24 lead into halftime after shooting 60.7 percent from the field in the first half.
 
The River Otters opened the second half at the same pace. White scored seven of Lewis & Clark's first nine points after the break, including a 3-pointer that made it 41-27. Jackson's fast-break layup at 15:59 pushed the lead to 14. White then scored five straight points, capped by a step-back jumper at 14:30, to put Lewis & Clark ahead 50-31.
 
Beard's fast-break 3-pointer at the 12:27 mark made it 53-33, and a Joe Brown layup at 8:40 gave Lewis & Clark its largest lead at 60-38. Whitman's Jacob Fotu, who led the Blues with 15 points, hit a pair of second-half 3-pointers, but Lewis & Clark's advantage never dipped below 13 until the final seconds. Whitman scored eight straight points in the closing minute to set the final margin.
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• Eleven River Otters scored, with Beard and Arcan combining for 15 points off the bench.
• Lewis & Clark held a 37-29 rebound advantage and outscored Whitman 38-22 in the paint.
• With two games left, Lewis & Clark sits in fourth place and holds the final Northwest Conference tournament spot at 8-6. The River Otters trail third-place Willamette (9-5) by one game and lead Linfield (6-8) by two. Lewis & Clark closes the regular season against both teams next weekend.
• Lewis & Clark swept the Blues for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

WHO'S NEXT
 
Lewis & Clark travels to Linfield for a 7:30 p.m. Northwest Conference game on Friday.