The Muhlenberg men's basketball team opened its trip to the Pacific Northwest with an impressive 65-63 win at Whitman.

The Mules (7-2) made four free throws in the final minute to snap Whitman's seven-game winning streak. The Blues (9-2) had lost only one regular-season non-conference home game to a Division III opponent in the last seven seasons.

Four players scored in double figures in a balanced Muhlenberg attack. Junior Brandon Goldberg set a career high for the second straight game with 15 points. Junior Giovanni Rubino added 14, followed by graduate student Dan Gaines and sophomore Jayson Williams-Johnson with 10 apiece.

Muhlenberg trailed 63-61 before Rubino was fouled while driving to the basket with 54.5 seconds left. He made both free throws to tie the game. Whitman drew a foul with 44.3 on the clock but missed both free throws.

On the next possession, Gaines drove the baseline with the shot clock winding down a whipped a pass to wide-open junior Tommy McGuire in the lane. He was fouled on the way up and made the first foul shot to put the Mules ahead for good with 21.6 ticks to play.

Muhlenberg missed a layup following a steal, giving the Blues one last possession down by a point. They missed a three-pointer, and Rubino was fouled after snagging the rebound with 1.0 on the clock. He made the first free throw and missed the second. The ball was deflected out of bounds, leaving the Blues only three-tenths of a second to go the length of the court, and they could not get a final shot off.

The Mules played outstanding defense against a Whitman team that came in averaging 83.2 points and shooting 49.5 percent from the field. The Blues finished 20 points below their average and shot just 38.3 percent.

McGuire led the defense with 11 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocked shots.

Showing no ill effects of their cross-country flight and three-hour bus ride the day before, the Mules came out strong, opening up a 32-19 lead late in the first half. Senior Justin Allen (pictured above) hit a three 41 seconds in for Muhlenberg's first points and scored all 8 of his points in the opening period.

Whitman wrapped a 17-3 run around halftime to take a 36-35 lead four minutes into the second half. Befitting a game between two teams who received votes in the most recent D3hoops.com poll, neither team led by more than five points the rest of the way.

The Mules are now 3-0 all-time at West Coast schools whose names begin with "Whit" – they won a tournament at Whittier College in California during the 2001-02 season. They will try to make it 4-0 at Whitworth on New Year's Eve.