WALLA WALLA, Wash. — No. 20 nationally ranked Whitman fended off a couple of Pacific second half rallies to hand the Boxers an 88-75 loss in men's Northwest Conference basketball action at the Sherwood Activity Center on Friday night.

The Missionaries, fresh off a victory over No. 1 ranked NCAA Division III Whitworth on Tuesday, improved to 18-3 on the season and to 10-2 in the NWC. Pacific fell to 10-10 on the year and to 4-7 in conference play.

DeVon Pouncey and Nate Olowo had double-doubles in Pacific's cause. Pouncey had 13 points and 12 boards, while Olowo had 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Bobby Ahern added 15 points, hitting 9-of-9 free throw attempts.

Pacific raced out to a 13-7 lead in the first eight minutes of the game in their upset bid, but the home team rallied back to tie the contest at 17-17 on a pair of Montez White free throws at the 8:19 mark of the first half. Whitman would then go on a 15-3 run, leading by as many as 12 points before intermission, going into the locker room up 43-33 on the scoreboard.

The Missionaries would push their lead to 17 points (59-42) on a trey by Jack Stewart five minutes into the second half. But a 10-2 PU run would chip away at that deficit, and when Ahern's three-pointer tickled the twine with 9:18 to go, the Boxes would only trail by four at 63-59.

A few moments later, Michael Joseph's basket kept the margin at four points (65-61), but back-to-back Stewart three-pointers pushed Whitman's lead back up to ten points and Pacific would get no closer than double digits the rest of the night.

The Boxers had a huge 56-35 rebound edge but hit only 32 percent of their shots from the field and were a cool 4-of-14 from three-point range. Whitman was led by White's 18 points (11-for-13 free throws) and Stewart's 17 (5-for-8 treys). Tim Howell added 15.

Pacific will now travel to Spokane to take on No. 1 Whitworth on Saturday night. Start time is 6 p.m.