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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Wickers Pumps Up Whitworth Guard Scores 18 As No. 8 Pirates Silence Pioneers For Ncic Win

Every time Whitworth’s Gabe Jones touched the ball on the offensive end in the Pirates’ 77-58 win against Lewis & Clark Friday night, the Pioneers coaches screamed “no shooter.”

Such a statement refers to one’s lack of scoring ability.

Finally having heard enough of the notso-flattering remark, teammate Roman Wickers said to Jones, “Hey Gabe, show ‘em what you got.”

Jones never did. Thanks to Wickers, he didn’t have to.

Wickers lit up the Pioneers on 7-for-13 shooting from the field (4 of 6 on 3-pointers) for 18 points. He added six steals.

“I haven’t been playing well in the last four games,” Wickers said. “I wanted to come out and get my confidence up.”

A 23-12 first-half run combined with an 18-8 second half run put the game away for the Pirates (3-2 NCIC, 12-6), ranked No. 8 in NAIA Division II.

As has been the case most of the season, Whitworth’s scoring came from Kevin Wright (19 points), Wickers (18) and Nate Dunham (14.).

Defensively, Wright and a collapsing wall of Pirates put the clamps on Dinari Foreman, the Pioneers’ (3-1, 9-9) leading scorer, who came into the game averaging 26.4 points per outing.

Friday at Whitworth’s fieldhouse, though, Dinari shot the ball more like George Foreman finishing the game with 13 points on 5-for-16 shooting.

Still, Wickers’ play was the story of the game. From Houston, the mouth of the south chatted up his team and the opposition.

At one point, his overexuberance got the best of him when he ran his mouth a bit too much in the second half and was whistled for a technical foul.

“We challenged Roman in practice this week,” said Whitworth coach Warren Friedrichs. “He really stepped it up for us.”

Whitworth hosts Pacific University tonight at 8.

Whitworth 77, Lewis and Clark 58

LEWIS AND CLARK (3-1 NCIC, 9-9)

Crew 0-4 0-0 0, Brake 5-6 0-0 10, Fredenburg 0-1 0-0 0, Meek 1-5 0-0 3, Nicholson 3-3 2-3 8, Henderson 0-1 0-0 0, Gonzales 1-2 0-0 3, Lam 5-8 0-0 13, Treadwell 0-3 0-0 0, Moszer 1-3 0-0 2, Foreman 5-16 3-3 13, Schreck 0-2 2-2 2, Flowers 2-4 0-3 4. Totals 23 58 7-11 58.

WHITWORTH (3-2, 12-6)

Weston 0-2 0-0 0, Stern 3-9 0-0 6, Wickers 7-13 0-2 18, Jones 1-7 4-4 7, Dunham 5-6 4-4 14, Vargas 1-3 0-2 2, Beckman 1-3 0-0 2, Mix 0-0 1-2 1, Devine 0-1 0-0 0, Wright 8-15 2-2 19, Palmer 2-3 4-4 8. Totals 28 62 15-20 77.

Halftime-Whitworth 40, Lewis and Clark 27. 3-point goal-Whitworth 6-24 (Weston 0-2, Stern 0-3, Wickers 4-6, Jones 1-7, Beckman 0-2, Wright 1-3, Palmer 0-1), LC 5-20 (Cruz 0-4, Meek 1-4, Henderson 0-1, Gonzales 1-1, Lam 3-5, Forman 0-4, Schreck 0-1). Fouled out-Brake. Rebounds- Whitworth 42 (Wright 11), LC 37 (Brake 7). Assists-Whitworth 23 (Stern 6), LC 8 (Foreman, Meek 2). Steals-Whitworth 14 (Wickers 6), LC (four with four). Turnovers-Whitworth 12 (Wright 4), LC 23 (Brake 5). Total fouls- Whitworth 15, LC 17. Technicals-Wickers.