While most Whitties spend winter break sitting on couches in a blissful state of comatose, the young and dynamic men’s basketball team jumped out to a 3-3 Northwest Conference record, their best in recent memory, with victories over western rivals Willamette, George Fox and Pacific University. The young and furiously-energetic Missionaries led the conference in scoring. With junior Justin Artis throwing down 29 points in a game, sophomore David Michaels slamming and jamming, first-year Peter Clark’s deadly three ball and sophomore Brandon Shaw’s floaters in the lane, the Missionaries have too many offensive threats for many Northwest Conference teams. In short, these guys have been ballin’ harder than Lil’ Wayne.

Their potential is unmatched, but in the last couple of weeks their record has taken a turn for the worse. Going into their Saturday, Jan. 23, home game against the Linfield College Wildcats, they had lost three consecutive conference games, putting the team at 9-7 overall, 3-4 in conference play. Many of their losses have been lopsided; however, the most piercing defeat was nail-biter: a 88-86 loss to Head Coach Eric Bridgeland’s former team, the University to Puget Sound on Jan. 16.

Whitman’s struggles continued during Saturday’s game as the visiting Wildcats beat the Missionaries 85-81, dropping Whitman to 3-5 in conference play.

The Missionaries can take some solace in the fact that their latest loss was not for a lack of effort.

“Sometimes you can give your best effort and not come out on top,” said Bridgeland. “I thought this was the case on Saturday.”

Despite the recent losing streak, Bridgeland is still optimistic about the remainder of the season, mentioning converting free throws and committing fewer turnovers as the primary keys to future success. The Whitman squad is fighting to stay in contention for a playoff spot as it reaches the midway point of conference play occupying sixth place out of nine teams. In order for Whitman to make the conference playoffs for the first time in over 15 years they must leapfrog Lewis and Clark and Pacific Lutheran in the standings to move into forth place.

The Sherwood center was rockin’ Saturday, Jan. 23, as the men’s team battled a large and athletic Wildcat team. The constantly-dancing, crazy-hat enthusiast sitting a few rows up from the Whitman bench provided additional inspiration for an already riled up crowd. Right from the tip-off, the intensity was high on both ends of the court.

Bridgeland was particularly happy with the Missionaries’ effort on defense.

“I thought our pressure was really good: maybe the best of the season,” he said. “If we had a couple more bodies, or healthy bodies, we could have sustained it down the stretch.”

The home team applied full court pressure the entire game and forced 25 Wildcat turnovers in what turned out to be a fast-paced, up-and-down game. The majority of the Missionary offense came from beyond the three-point arc with Clark leading the way. Clark finished six for 10 from the 3-point range and almost single-handedly kept his team in the game in the first half.

In the second half, Linfield adjusted its defense to compensate for Clark’s hot hand; however, other Missionaries were able to step up and contribute. Shaw finished with a team-high of 21 points, hitting nine of 13 from the field.

However, Whitman had no way of slowing down Linfield big-man K.C. Wiser: aka Sir Dunks-A Lot: who scored 35 points, several coming off of two-handed slams. Despite Wiser’s huge game and a seven-point deficit with 3:20 to go, the Missionaries stayed in it until the closing seconds. However, late turnovers foiled the home team in the forth quarter.

With 1:20 left and the Missionaries trailing 79-75, Whitman had possession and a chance to cut the lead to two. However, Shaw turned it over, dribbling the ball off his foot in the backcourt. Senior Jordan Wheeler hit a clutch three-pointer with 27 seconds left to cut the Wildcat lead to 81-79, but it proved to be too little too late.

The most exciting sequence of the game came midway through the second half when Wheeler made an athletic move to pin a Linfield lay-up high on the glass which resulted in a transition three by Artis.

The Missionaries host Lewis and Clark College and Willamette University this Friday, Jan. 29, and Saturday, Jan. 30, respectively; both games take place at 8 p.m in the Sherwood Athletic Center.