Whits Prevail To Affirm Their No. 8 Ranking Pirates Use Defense To Hold Off Willamette, 70-65

Whitworth used a sweltering defense and withstood a late-game shooting spree by Willamette to win 70-65 Friday night and move into a tie with the Bearcats in the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges.

The Pirates, ranked No. 8 in the NAIA Division II men’s basketball poll, turned away the 18th-ranked Bearcats at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Pirates coach Warren Friedrichs called it a 7-6 football game on the basketball court.

“Every basket seemed like it was hard to get,” he said. “We had just enough of a cushion at the end to keep them away.”

Whitworth (5-3, 15-7) held a 53-42 lead with 7:42 to play, but even the capacity crowd of 2,300 could sense the Bearcats (5-3, 12-9) wouldn’t go away.

All game, Whitworth’s Roman Wickers shut down Willamette’s leading scorer, Dave Snyder. Snyder was 0 for 6 in the first half with Wickers draped over him.

At game’s end, Snyder finally cut loose. He and teammate R.J. Adelman (the son of former Portland Trail Blazers coach Rick Adelman, who was in attendance) put up shots from all over the floor in a last-ditch effort.

That 11-point lead had been whittled to 66-61 with 56 seconds left before the Bearcats ran out of time.

Adelman led the Bearcats with 16 points. Snyder had 10.

“When they needed to make a big play, they made a big play,” said Bearcats head coach Gordie James.

The defense and bench play for the Pirates told most of the story in this contest, though.

Whitworth led at 31-24 at halftime as Willamette shot just 8 for 28 from the field. The Bearcats were 3 of 15 from inside the 3-point line, 5 for 13 from outside it.

“I thought our whole offense was stagnant,” James said. “Their control of the offensive boards also hurt us early.”

Although the rebounding was almost even (47-45 for Whitworth), the Pirates had a 30-18 edge at halftime. Twelve came at the offensive end for the Pirates.

While Whitworth’s usual cast of Kevin Wright (17 points), Roman Wickers (14), Nate Dunham (11), Jeff Arkills (10) and Greg Stern (seven assists) did their jobs, Jeff Palmer’s eight points, five rebounds and Sean Weston’s four points came in stretches where point production was needed.

Weston, the backup point guard, checked in after Stern received his third foul with 16:33 left in the game. The Pirates never missed a beat.

“That’s my job,” Weston said. “I just kept the ball moving and tried to make sure the offense continued to flow.”

“That was a complete team effort,” Friedrichs said. “And with the atmosphere that was in here, it had the feel of a playoff game. That’s good for down the road.”