Whits go for title
Whitworth University will try to slow down the University of Puget Sound for the third time this season when the two teams meet tonight in the championship game of the Northwest Conference men’s basketball tournament.
Tipoff is set for 8 at the Fieldhouse, where the regular-season conference champion Pirates (19-6 overall, 12-4 in the NWC) hope to earn the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament by beating the Loggers (19-6, 11-5) for the third time this winter.
UPS, which earned a spot in tonight’s title game by knocking off Willamette 87-82 on Thursday, averaged more than 93 points per game during the regular season and features constant full-court defensive pressure and a half-court offense built around dribble penetration, kick-out passes and 3-point shooting.
“But what they’re best at is forcing turnovers,” Whitworth coach Jim Hayford said of the Loggers, who forced an average of more than 22 per game during the regular season and came up with 30 in Thursday’s semifinal win over Willamette. “They put constant pressure on the ball and sub in new guys every 45 seconds like a hockey team.
“Their objective is to wear you down.”
Whitworth used its more deliberate style to beat UPS during the regular season by scores of 80-78 in Spokane and 83-78 in Tacoma, committing just 19 turnovers in the two games.
The Pirates are paced by NWC Player of the Year Ryan Symes, a 6-foot-5 senior forward who is averaging 18.8 points per game, and first-team all-league forward Colin Willemsen, a 6-6 senior, who is averaging 13.9 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds.
UPS also boasts a pair of first-team all-league selections in 6-7 junior forward Jason Foster (18.6 ppg) and 6-0 junior guard Antwan Williams (17.2 ppg).
When asked about the difficulty of beating a team three times in the same season, Hayford said, “They’ve never been able to find the person to attribute that quote to, so I don’t buy into that idea. This game is going to be about whoever plays the best (tonight). We need to exert our will on them, but they’ve been the hardest opponent in our league to do that against.”