Pirates Men 22nd In Poll

Whitworth College had only a .500 week, but it was good enough to get the Pirates into 22nd place in the NAIA Division II men’s basketball poll this week.

It’s the Pirates’ first ranking since they were 13th in the preseason poll.

What likely did the trick for the Pirates (8-4) was a 68-67 upset of then-19th ranked Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma. Despite the loss, the Lutes (9-4) climbed to 17th.

Lewis & Clark (10-3), which posted an 85-74 win over Whitworth, remains seventh, giving the Northwest Conference three in the top 25.

Whitworth returns home to face Seattle U. on Friday and Puget Sound on Saturday, both at 8 p.m.

Eagles fly indoors

Eastern Washington’s Thorpe Fieldhouse will be the scene of the EWU Invitational indoor track and field meet Saturday. Field events begin at 9 a.m., running at 11:30.

The University of Washington, with touted freshman sprinter JaWarren Hooker, will join Eastern, Washington State, Idaho, Gonzaga, Montana, Whitworth, Eastern Oregon, CC Spokane and North Idaho in a two-division field.

Among the headliners are expected to be EWU high jumpers Seville Broussard and Andre Ervin.

They were named Big Sky Conference field athletes of the week for their performances in last weekend’s Early Bird Open at EWU.

The two juniors met NCAA Indoor Championship provisional qualifying standards, Broussard going 5-foot, 9-3/4-inches and Ervin 7-1.

Vandal boosters meet

Basketball highlights will be the topic when the Idaho Vandal Boosters gather for lunch at noon today at Players & Spectators (12828 E. Sprague). The public is welcome.

, DataTimes