Whitworth Goes Deep, Sinks Pacific
With the score tied, the shot clock dead and the crowd in a frenzy, the Whitworth Pirates - in love with the 3-pointer all night - had one last opportunity to dial long distance.
And with 16 seconds left, senior guard Roman Wickers connected, giving the Pirates a 66-63 victory over a Pacific team without its best player, who watched from the bench, crutches at his side.
So the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges defensive struggle ended in a flurry of 3s - each team made seven in the second half.
The victory means that the Pirates (15-4), eighth-ranked in NAIA Division II, would remain in at least a tie for first place in the NCIC with a 7-2 conference mark.
Whitworth led by as many as seven points early in the second half, but Pacific fought back behind Jason Morgenthaler and Sean Eaton, the Boxers taking their only second-half lead, 55-53, with 7 minutes left.
After that, the score was tied four times, the last at 63 when Pacific’s Kelly LaClaire buried a 3 with 1:16 left and the shot clock almost expired. The Pirates had the ball for the next minute, twice missing short jump shots but coming down with offensive rebounds by Jeff Mix and then Wickers.
They got a timeout with 25 seconds left, and 9 seconds later Wickers was uncontested on the wing for the winner. The Boxers called timeout with 13 seconds left and had three tries to tie, but only the first one came close.
“That wasn’t what we were looking to do,” Pirates coach Warren Friedrichs said. “We were looking to run some more clock, but Roman got a wide-open look. Those two offensive rebounds gave us a chance.”
Boxers coach Ken Schumann agreed. “Little things like that can make such a big difference,” Schumann said. “Until the end, I thought we played an outstanding game with the best forward in the conference on the bench.”
That would be 6-foot-7 junior Bret Jefferies, averaging 20 points, six rebounds and 32 minutes per game before suffering an ankle injury Friday at Whitman. In his absence, Morgenthaler scored 16 points and Eaton 12, while four Pirates hit double figures - Nathan Dunham with 14, Nate Williams and Gabe Jones with 13 and Wickers with 11. Freshman Tyler Jordan, from Gonzaga Prep, hit three 3s.
Whitworth 66, Pacific 63
Pacific - LeClaire 4-9 0-0 10, Morgenthaler 7-8 1-2 16, Fitzgerald 1-2 0-0 3, J. Vernon 3-6 0-0 9, Eaton 5-8 0-0 12, G.Vernon 5-12 0-0 11, Kosik 1-3 0-0 2, Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Krohn 0-2 0-0 0.Totals- 26-50 1-2 63.
Whitworth - Weston 0-2 0-0 0, Mix 1-1 0-1 2, Williams 4-8 2-4 13, Wickers 4-10 1-1 11, Jones 5-8 0-0 13, Dunham 5-9 4-5 14, Arkills 2-3 0-0 4, Beckman 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan 3-7 0-0 9.Totals-24-50 7-11 66.
Halftime - Whitworth 33, Pacific 28. 3-point goals - Pacific 10-24 (J. Vernon 3). Whitworth 11-24 (Williams 3) Total fouls - Pacific 16, Whitworth 10. Technical fouls - LeClaire, Whitworth bench. Rebounds - Pacific 26 (Eaton 10). Whitworth 27 (Wickers 6). Assists - Pacific 19 (G.Vernon, Kosik 5), Whitworth 16 (Williams 5).
, DataTimes