PENDLETON – Orrin Wallace scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Madras pulled away for an 81-66 Intermountain Conference boys basketball victory Thursday night at Pendleton.

The White Buffaloes broke a 39-39 halftime tie by outscoring the Buckaroos 42-27 in the second half en route to the victory.

The win sets up a huge league showdown for No. 8-ranked Madras (4-0 IMC, 11-3 overall), which entertains third-ranked Mountain View (4-0 IMC, 10-4 overall) tonight at 7 o’clock.

Madras used a 21-9 run in third quarter, highlighted by five three-point baskets in the period – three from Derrick Metcalf – to take control of the game at Pendleton High School’s Warberg Court.

”We got off to kind of a slow start. We were kind of sluggish in the first half,” said Madras coach Evan Brown. ”After a friendly chat at halftime, we came out a lot more fired up to start the third quarter.”

The White Buffaloes shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half after hitting just 36.6 percent of their first-half field goals.

Wallace added five steals and four blocked shots to his double-double. Metcalf finished with 15 points and Carson Ahern added 14 points. Darrell Ceciliani dished out five assists.

Tucker Whitten led the Bucks with 18 points.

”Anytime you can go on the road and get a win is good,” said Brown. ”It sets up a big showdown for us, but we might have a tough time coming off this game. We’ll have to play very well to have a shot.”

In other Thursday action:

No. 1 Western Mennonite 61

Culver 47

CULVER – The Class 2A top-ranked Pioneers from Salem dropped seven three-pointers on the host Bulldogs in the first half, rolling to a 42-16 lead en route to the Tri-River Conference decision. Nevin Lewis scored 18 points to lead Culver (2-7 Tri-River, 6-11 overall), which plays at Santiam on Saturday.