Thompson Hits 24 as Men Win Again

News Release Date:
Wednesday, November 25

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Freshman guard LuQuam Thompson scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds to spark Whitman College to an 86-69 victory over West Coast Baptist in non-conference men's basketball action Wednesday night in Lancaster, Calif.

Whitman improved to 3-2 on the young season while the Eagles slipped to 2-4.

LuQuam Thompson

One night after pestering Cal Tech into 37 turnovers, Whitman wreaked even more havoc on the Eagles, converting 44 opposition turnovers into 45 Missionary points. 

Justin Artis, a junior guard, paced the defense with five of Whitman's 18 steals. He also contributed 12 points at the offensive end.

Justin Artis

Daniel Davidson, a junior forward, made 10 of 12 free throws en route to 13 points and seven rebounds. Freshman wing Brady Brent hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 10 points.

Whitman led by as many as 14 points late the first half and took a 43-32 advantage into intermission. The Missionaries then opened the second stanza on an 8-0 run to the break the game open.

A pair of Artis free throws gave Whitman its biggest lead of the night at 76-51 with about eight minutes left to play. 

The Eagles were not quite grounded, however. With Whitman up 78-56, the home team ran off 11 straight points to slice its deficit in half with more than three minutes still remaining. 

A Brandon Shaw free throw and field goals by Thompson and freshman Drew Raher helped Whitman regain control and finish the night on an 8-2 run.

The two teams battled to a 44-44 standoff on the backboards. West Coast Baptist shot 43.1 percent from the floor -- a few percentage points higher than a Whitman team that took 16 more shots on the night. 

The Missionaries complete their three-game swing through California on Saturday with an 11 a.m. game at the University of Redlands.

Box Score

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu