by Lizzie Norgard
WHITMAN COLLEGE PIONEER

Pacific University gained an early lead on Whitman in the men’s basketball game on Dec 2, and the gap continued to widen throughout the game. Whitman eventually lost, at a score of 65-46.

The Missionaries’ defensive strategy held reasonably well through the first half, but their offense struggled to hold on. The score was a close 30-27 at the end of the first half, after the Missionaries gained some momentum, with Chris Faidley and Ian Warner scoring consecutive three point shots. However, Whitman was unable to maintain their energy throughout the second half.

“Energy and effort are incredibly important in basketball, and we didn’t deliver,” team co-captain Kyle Born said. Whitman coach Skip Molitor started platooning the players in the second half, which boosted the team’s energy, but not enough for them to make a comeback.

The Missionaries were thrown off by Pacific’s aggressive rebounding.”You could see they wanted it more than us,” Born said. “Senior captain Aaron Hazel was the only one really competing for the ball to the level we needed.” Born hopes that the loss will be a constructive wake-up call for the team.

“The game of basketball requires one thing: heart,” Born said. “We have a lot of it, but there’s a difference between having it and using it. We need to start using it.”