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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pirates turn back Linfield for 4-0 NWC start

Linfield kept making runs but the Whitworth men’s basketball team answered them all and raced to a 79-63 victory over the Wildcats in front of 915 fans Friday night at Whitworth Fieldhouse. The Pirates improved to 11-2 overall, 4-0 in the Northwest Conference. “It’s a tough stretch to open conference with four games in eight days,” coach Matt Logie said. “But we played good basketball.” Linfield (2-10, 0-3) tied the game twice in the early going, but never took the lead in a game that Whitworth led by as many as 22 points late in the second half. “I thought for the most part our starters did a good job of establishing the tone defensively,” Logie said. “We had lulls at times, but Kenny (Love) stepped up in the second half and made some big shots.” Love, a sophomore guard, led all scorers with a career-high 26 points, of which 20 came in the second half. “I was just trying to get a good look,” said Love, who hit 3 of 5 3-pointers. “Just like Coach says: ‘Keep staying aggressive.’ I saw some opportunities and I made them.” Sophomore wing Christian Jurlina scored 19 points and junior forward George Valle scored 10 points in the victory. “C.J. (Jurlina) has been consistent for us all year long,” Logie said. “I was very pleased with his defensive effort.” Jurlina held the Wildcats’ leading scorer Ryan Potter to only five points, more than seven below his average. Whitworth came out hot and scored the game’s first 10 points. But the Pirates went cold from outside and Linfield tied it at 15. But Jurlina, who led all scorers with 10 first-half points, hit two free throws, starting Whitworth on an 11-0 run. The teams traded baskets until the half ended with a 35-25 Pirates lead. Austin Murray led the Wildcats with 22 points and seven rebounds but Linfield was not able muster a challenge in the second half. Whitworth forced 19 Linfield turnovers that led to 26 points. Linfield actually shot better than Whitworth as the Wildcats hit 21 of 41 shots for 51.2 percent. Whitworth hit 46.9 percent of its shots, including 9 of 23 from the 3-point arc. “They are a good-shooting team,” Logie said. “But when we executed our game plan, we got stops.” Whitworth now travels to take on Pacific (5-7, 1-2) and George Fox (4-8, 2-1) next weekend. “I like where we are,” Logie said, “but we need to get better all around and continue to grow.”