Whitworth takes down Pacific Lutheran
The temptation was there, to be sure. Ultimately, however, Whitworth wasn’t interested in succumbing to it.
The Pirates controlled the tempo and kept Pacific Lutheran grounded in a 76-66 victory Friday night in a Northwest Conference men’s basketball game at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Pirates (16-6, 9-4 NWC). More important, Whitworth remained a game behind first-place Puget Sound, a 104-67 winner over Whitman on Friday night. The top two teams have a much-awaited matchup tonight at 8 in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
“If we win, we’re back in first place and hold all the tiebreakers,” Pirates point guard Ross Nakamura said. “We control our own destiny. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Well, we’d like to be undefeated, I guess. But after losing three in a row, it’s nice that we control our own destiny.”
“I hope every man, woman or child who loves Whitworth comes out (for tonight’s game) and cheers us on,” said Pirates coach Jim Hayford.
Ryan Symes flirted with foul trouble but led Whitworth with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Colin Willemsen collected 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Calvin Jurich contributed with 14 points and nine rebounds.
That triumvirate outshined PLU’s stellar duo, Josh Dressler and Scott McDaniels. While Dressler, the conference’s second-leading scorer, finished with 22 points, McDaniels was limited to nine points after averaging 18.4 points through the team’s first 20 games.
The Lutes (10-11, 6-7) average more than 80 points a contest, employing an up-tempo style that begs opponents to run the floor. Whitworth’s combination of efficient shooting – the Pirates were 16 of 27 from the field before halftime – and rebounding prowess allowed the Pirates to run at their own leisure.
“We wanted to keep playing our game,” Hayford said. “We want you to have to work to score on every possession. We’re not going to give up transition buckets. And we make you have to play defense. That’s what it looked like we did for the most part tonight.”
Whitworth led 34-28 at halftime and PLU was unable to trim that deficit to fewer than four points during the final 20 minutes of the game.
A pair of Tim Sellereit buckets on successive trips down the floor pushed Whitworth’s lead to 73-58 with 2:41 remaining and effectively put the game out of reach.
Nate Montgomery, sidelined for seven games with an ankle injury, appeared for less than a minute in the first half in his first game action since Jan. 26. The 6-foot-6 sophomore post averaged eight points a game before the injury, and Hayford said the team has targeted next week when he’ll return to the court in an expanded role.