Whitworth Dusts Fox Pirates Beat George Fox 78-59 With Defensive Adjustments

Whitworth College basketball coach Warren Friedrichs won’t hesitate to tell you that team basketball at its best resembles a finely tuned car with all its parts working.

In Whitworth’s 78-59 win over George Fox Friday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse, Friedrichs pulled out the defensive jumper cables to help charge his sluggish team.

It took the Pirates almost 5 minutes to score their first basket as the Bruins took a 5-0 lead while seemingly possessing twice the energy level of the Pirates.

But Whitworth’s defensive pressure in alignments “22’ and “Hawkeye” brought about a swift end to George Fox.

“This team is made around the defense,” Friedrichs said. “When I look up at the scoreboard and see 59 points, I think that’s a sign that we did a good job.”

Twenty-two is a 2-2-1 trap; Hawkeye is a 1-2-2 trap. Friedrichs used the two at various times throughout most of the first half to turn a 20-20 tie into a 32-20 lead.

Also, the Pirates made the necessary offensive adjustments to get the points flowing onto the scoreboard.

“They came out in a zone,” Whitworth’s Nate Dunham said. “It took us a while to adjust to it. When we practice, the defense is exclusively man-to-man, and most teams in the conference play man-to-man.

“It took us awhile to recognize certain things that were taking place.”

When the picture became clear, Dunham poured in a team-high 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the floor and 5 for 6 from the free throw line.

“What can you say about Nate?” Friedrichs said. “Time and time again, he just goes out there and does it all.”

“It was cold in here tonight,” Dunham said. “I really noticed it at halftime. It took me awhile to get warmed up.”

Following Dunham in the scoring category was Nate Williams, who finshed with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the floor, which also included a 4-for-4 performance from behind the 3-point line.

Williams said he also had trouble adjusting to the Bruins’ zone.

“When you don’t see it all the time, you kind of forget what’s going on around you. We started finding the openings and penetrated and everybody just seemed to start knocking down shots.”

With the win, Whitworth (14-4 overall, 6-2 league) maintained a share of first place in the Northwest Conference.

George Fox fell to 8-10, 3-5.

The Pirates, ranked No. 8 in NAIA Division II, host Pacific University (9-9, 5-2) tonight at 8.

Whitworth 78, George Fox 59

George Fox - Gallop 3-7 5-6 12, Haij 8- 16 0-0 21, Orick 3-8 0-0 6, Hartenstein 2-8 0-0 4, Valentine 3-7 2-2 8, Faber 2- 5 0-0 4, Downs 2-2 0-1 4, Long 0-0 0-0 0, Beddingfield 0-2 0-0 0, Newkirk 0-0 0 -0 0, Ratzlaff 0-1 0-0 0, Ankeny 0-0 0-0 0, Homolka 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 7-10 59.

Whitworth - Dunham 8-10 5-6 21, Wickers 5-10 0-0 11, Ga. Jones 2-4 2-2 8, Williams 6-11 4-4 16, Arkills 4-6 0-0 8, Weston 0-2 0-0 0, Mix 3-4 2-2 8, Vargas 0-2 0-0 0, Beckman 2-4 0-0 6, Schulz 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan 0-1 0-0 0, Gr. Jones 0-0 0 -0 0, N. Fox 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-54 9-10 78.

Halftime: Whitworth 37, George Fox 26. 3 -pointers: GF 6-22 (Haij 5-11), Whitworth 9-20 (Williams 4-4). Rebounds: GF 28 (Gallop, Haij 8), Whitworth 31 ( Dunham 6), Assists: GF 15 (Orick 4), Whitworth 25 (Williams 7). Turnovers: GF 14, Whitworth 11.

, DataTimes