WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Whitworth's 20-game winning streak came to an end thanks to a 93-90 overtime loss at Whitman College on Tuesday night.
Wade Gebbers scored a career high 27 points for the Pirates, who fell to 20-2 overall and 12-1 in the NWC. The Missionaries improved to 15-7, 9-4 with the win.
Whitman led by as many as seven points midway through the first half after Jackson Clough's three-pointer gave the Missionaries a 23-16 lead. Whitworth rallied to tie the game 31-31 on a dunk by Taylor Farnsworth, but Whitman led 36-33 at halftime.
Whitworth came out of the locker rooms on a 14-4 run and took a 47-40 lead on Colton McCargar's lay up five minutes into the second half. The Pirates eventually stretched the lead to 53-44 on another McCargar basket with under 12 minutes to play.
Whitman began to climb back and was within 74-70 when Taylor Farnsworth was called for a foul and a technical with 29 seconds to play. Matt Mounier and Drew Raher each canned a pair of free throws to tie the game. McCargar came up big again for Whitworth, scoring the go-ahead basket with 10.9 second to go. But Mounier tied it with 4.7 left to tie the game 76-76 and force overtime.
Whitman outscored Whitworth 17-14 in the extra period. Mounier hit a three-pointer for an 84-81 Whitman lead sparked an 8-0 run from which the Pirates could not recover.
Whitworth remains one win away from clinching its fourth straight outright Northwest Conference championship. The Pirates will host George Fox on Saturday in the regular season home finale.
