TACOMA, Washington – The Puget Sound men's basketball team nearly erased a seven-point deficit in 40 seconds, but Whitman held on for a 90-87 win in Memorial Fieldhouse Saturday night.

The Blues (15-4, 10-0 NWC) had an 86-79 lead until Jourdan Joseph hit a driving layup with 1:24 left in the second half. Whitman and Puget  Sound (9-10, 3-7 NWC) exchanged scoreless possessions, and with time running out Puget Sound started to send the Blues to the foul line.

Whitman took an 88-81 lead by making its free-throws, but CJ Geathers quickly answered by hitting a corner 3-pointer in front of the Puget Sound bench. The Blues connected on two more free-throws, but the Loggers answered with yet another trey. This time it was Joseph who connected from deep, making it a 90-87 game with 19 seconds on the clock.

Puget Sound quickly applied full-court pressure and forced the Blues to turn the ball over with 12 seconds remaining. Joseph tried once again from deep, but the would-be game-tying shot was off the mark.

However, there was enough time on the clock for Stellan Roberts to grab the offensive rebound, dribble out to 3-point range, and quickly turnaround for a game-tying shot. In his haste, Roberts was also off target at the final buzzer.

Joseph led all players in scoring with 25 points. Cal Hansen got his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Roberts also scored 16 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists.

Puget Sound is on the road next week at Linfield on Friday, Feb. 7, for an 8 p.m. tipoff.