WALLA WALLA – Whitman used a 13-point streak to take control midway through the first period, and the Missionaries pulled away in the second half to a 79-43 Northwest Conference men's basketball win over Pacific Lutheran Friday night at Sherwood Center.

Pacific Lutheran falls to 5-10 overall and 3-3 in conference play, while Whitman improves to 11-5 overall and 5-2 in the NWC. The Lutes return to action Saturday, when they will take on Whitworth in Spokane at 6 p.m.

Brandon Lester made all three of the Lutes' three-pointers while tallying a team-best 14 points. Dylan Foreman added nine points, while Austen Trent Wilson grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Jackson Clough scored a game-high 15 points, while Cheney Doane made all four of his three-point attempts to tally 12, Matt Mounier scored 11 and Evan Martin added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Pacific Lutheran led 12-9 nearly seven minutes into the first period when Whitman put together a 13-point streak that set the Missionaries up 10. The Lutes scored the next four and remained as close as six back with 6:32 to go in the first half before an 11-2 Whitman run made it 37-22. PLU scored six of the final nine points of the period to go into the break down 40-28.

That 12-point deficit proved to be the closest PLU would get the rest of the way, as Whitman held the Lutes to 21.7 percent shooting in the second half (5-of-23). The Lutes finished the night at 31.9 percent overall (15-of-47), while Whitman shot 51.8 percent overall (29-of-56) and an even 50 percent from three-point range (12-of-24).