Second-ranked Whitworth men defeat Millsaps, improve to 9-0

The No. 2 Whitworth men’s basketball team led from the start Saturday and crushed an overmatched Millsaps College 86-47 in the first game for Pirates transfer guard AJ Grant.

The Pirates (9-0) dominated on the boards. They hit 15 3-pointers and shot 49 percent from the floor to keep the Majors (1-7) from making it a game.

Junior wing Christian Jurlina led all scorers with 23 points in only 20 minutes. By the end, the Pirates got playing time for nearly every player on the roster.

“It’s great to be able to reward those guys,” Pirates coach Matt Logie said. “They work hard every day in practice and bring value to our program.”

The Pirates came out hitting almost everything the Majors couldn’t buy a basket.

Jurlina opened the scoring with a long jumper and only missed two first-half shots en route to 17 points at the break with Whitworth leading 38-20.

The Majors came out and packed the paint. They invited the Pirates to take outside shots. That was a bad strategy.

“We weren’t expecting to be that open,” Jurlina said. “We honestly didn’t expect it.”

Millsaps started the game 1 for 10 from the floor but improved later in the half and finished shooting 35 percent. They were led by 12 points from Trent Markwith, who was the only Majors player to hit double figures.

Millsaps hit 37 percent from the floor for the game, including 1 for 6 from 3-point range.

The huge win was the first game for Grant, a senior, who transferred in from George Fox. He was injured in the preseason last year and never played for George Fox. He transferred and wasn’t able to practice until he played against Millsaps.

Grant, who was a first-team all-conference guard in 2013-14, missed his first 3-pointer, but hit two others and scored seven points and had three assists.

“Coach Logie only called the things I would know how to do,” Grant said. “It’s been a year and 10 months since I played in a game. It was the first game that I was actually a little bit nervous for. But once I got out there, I felt good.”

Derek Isaak scored 14 points for Whitworth, hitting 4 of 5 on 3-pointers. George Valle scored 12 points in 20 minutes and had four rebounds.

Along with Grant, Brodie Ford, a freshman forward from Wellpinit, scored his first points as a Pirate when he nailed a 3-pointer.

“We were going crazy,” Jurlina said of Ford’s shot. “It was great to see. These guys are like my brothers. I enjoy seeing them do well. “