21st-ranked Whitworth men roll to 39-point victory to collect 20th win

The No. 21 Whitworth men sent out two seniors in style Saturday night by dominating Pacific (Oregon) in an 89-50 shellacking that marked the Pirates’ 20th win of the basketball season.

The game actually started as a draw, but the Boxers (11-12, 6-8 Northwest Conference) never led and really never challenged after about 3 minutes into the game.

“It was terrific,” Whitworth coach Matt Logie said. “We really put it together tonight on both sides of the ball. That type of performance is something we have been striving for all year.”

The Pirates (20-3, 13-1 NWC) hit half their shots in the first half and actually shot better in the second half (52.4 percent) while knocking down 11 3-point shots.

In honor of senior night, Logie started both 6-foot-8 Taylor Farnsworth (Mead) and 6-7 Adam Wilks, who scored 12 points and grabbed three rebounds.

“It’s really incredible,” said Wilks, who scored a career-high 17 points Friday. “It’s really awesome to have a couple good performances to culminate four years.”

Junior forward George Valle and sophomore Christian Jurlina both had 14 points and Jurlina led the Pirates with nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Kenny Love had 11 points on a night when several reserve players added to the scoring.

On the other end, the Pirates held the Boxers to 25 percent shooting for the game and did not allow a player to reach double figures in points. Danny Brakebush led Pacific with nine points.

“It’s kind of the first time all year we put a solid game together on both sides of the ball,” Farnsworth said. “Everyone was locked in from the start and we played with a lot of energy.”

The Pirates won the rebound battle 39-30 and outscored the Boxers 34-12 in the paint. Whitworth also got 21 points off 13 Pacific turnovers, which helped fuel a lead that grew to 42 points with 5:46 to play.

“The seniors have done a great job developing confidence in themselves,” Logie said. “They’ve grown tremendously as players and people.”

The Pirates have already locked up one of the top two spots in the conference along with Whitman (18-5, 12-2), which ensures Whitworth will have at least one more home game in the four-team NWC tournament.

Whitworth completes its regular season with road games next week at Pacific Lutheran (8-15, 6-8) and Puget Sound (12-10, 7-7).

“Our ultimate goal is to have the first seed and host both games,” Logie said.

“That’s what we are striving for.”

North Idaho 78, Colorado Northwestern 49: Austin Pope made 7 of 9 shots and scored a game-high 16 points to power the Cardinals (22-11, 8-8) past the Spartans (8-23, 2-14) in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game in Coeur d’Alene.

NIC’s Jordan King added 14 points and Fuquan Niles chipped in 12 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks.

Treasure Valley 86, CC Spokane 67: Shareef Ingram led four players in double figures with 20 points as the Chukars (10-12, 6-4) jumped out to a hot start and dumped the Sasquatch (16-9, 6-4) in a Northwest Athletic Conference game in Ontario, Oregon.

CCS’ Dean Richey scored 19 points and Race Martin added 16 points and 11 rebounds.