Valle helps No. 5 Whitworth top George Fox 83-67

No. 5 Whitworth fell behind early and used a 19-1 run in the first half to take the lead for good en route to an 83-67 win Friday night against pesky George Fox.

The Pirates (21-1, 12-1 Northwest Conference) turned to a George of its own – senior George Valle, who led all scorers with 23 points and 10 rebounds, his fifth double-double this season.

“George played really really well,” Coach Matt Logie said. “He’s given so much to this program. He’s playing like it’s his last chance. I need the others to play with that same passion.”

George Fox started the game by raining 3-pointers against Whitworth and raced to a 21-9 lead.

But Matt Staudacher hit a 3 to start the Pirates on a 19-1 run that ended with the Pirates leading 28-22. On one play midway through the half during that run, Valle grabbed a steal, led his own fast break, scored a layup and was fouled. He converted the 3-point play to give Whitworth a 24-22 lead.

“I thought once our shots started to fall, and we did our job on defense, we were able to build a lead,” Logie said.

The Bruins finally ended their scoring drought and made another run to get within 33-32 when Jonathan Doutt hit one of his four first-half 3s for George Fox.

But the Pirates outscored the Bruins 13-3 the rest of the half and led 46-35 at the break.

Valle said the key to the 19-1 run that gave Whitworth the lead for good was making stops.

“We track our stops in terms of getting three in a row. We call that a kill,” Valle said. “We had two or three kills in that stretch. That will help us build our lead for sure.”

Junior Christian Jurlina, who said he’s been fighting a chest infection, finally found an offensive groove after four games below his scoring average. Jurlina finished with 21 points, six rebounds and four steals.

“I felt good. The antibiotics kicked in and my lungs finally feel like they can take air again,” Jurlina said. “We had an initial lapse in our defense that got us out of our groove. But we were able to commit to our defense and come back.”

During the second half, the only drama seemed to be which player, Jurlina or Valle, would score the most.

“I call it a healthy rivalry,” Jurlina said. “But honestly, we are a team. We are out here to help each other. (Valle is) a senior. He’s been here the longest. He’s our captain. I’m proud of him.”

The Pirates shot a blistering 54.7 percent from the field, including 7 of 16 from beyond the arc.

George Fox hit 13 3-pointers in the game and shot 45.1 percent, but they couldn’t match the Pirates when they got their transition game running. The Bruins (6-16, 3-10) were led by Jonathan Doutt with 18 points.

Whitworth, which also got 11 points from freshman guard Kyle Roach and nine points from center Drew Sears, outscored the Bruins 40-12 in the paint and had an eight rebound advantage.

The Pirates turn around at 6 p.m. tonight against Willamette (12-10, 4-9), on a night when they will honor Valle, senior guards AJ Grant and Matt Staudacher, and Brandon Loiler, who hasn’t played because of an injured back.

“I really just try to stay in the moment … and enjoy every game I have left,” Valle said. Tonight “could be the last game I have in the Fieldhouse. That’s pretty surreal.”