Pirates Win On Last-Second 3-Pointer

The Northwest Conference post-season basketball tournament didn’t start Saturday night at Whitworth - it just felt that way.

The stands were packed, the fieldhouse was rocking, and when junior guard Nate Williams buried a 3-pointer with 1 second remaining, the Pirates put a 77-76 exclamation point on their first NCIC regular-season championship in five years.

The Pirates trailed Pacific Lutheran University by seven points with less than 3 minutes to play after going more than 7 minutes without a field goal, but they hit four 3s in the final 1:38, two each by Gabe Jones and Williams.

Williams’ winner was set up, ironically, when the Pirates missed a chance to tie with 4 seconds left. Whitworth’s Roman Wickers, hurrying the ball up the floor after Andrew Mills had scored with 7 seconds left, was fouled by Erik Peterson.

Needing both free throws to tie the score, Wickers missed the first. Hoping the Pirates would get the offensive rebound, he bricked the second foul shot intentionally and, sure enough, Whitworth was awarded the basketball when it was knocked out of bounds by a Lute.

Wickers inbounded to Williams on the wing, and the nation’s leading 3-point percentage shooter hit his seventh in nine tries with one tick left. PLU called a timeout, but Williams knocked away a courtlong pass.

“I wasn’t necessarily looking for a 3, just whatever I could get,” he said.

He led Whitworth with 28 points.

The Lutes (8-6, 13-11) were led by freshman post Brad Brevet, a 6-foot-8 bruiser, with 19 points.

Whitworth (12-2 in league, 20-4 overall), the host team, enters the NCIC tournament, which begins Wednesday, with an 18-game homecourt winning streak.

Whitworth 77, Pacific Lutheran 76

Pacific Lutheran (13-11, 8-6) - Mills 4-7 0-0 9, Douglass 0-1 0-0 0, Peirce 3-7 0-2 8, Albright 2-5 0-0 4, Sundquist 0-0 0-0 0, Mackey 4-8 0-0 9, Peterson 2-7 0-0 5, Maners 3-5 0-0 6, Dahlberg 3-4 2-2 10, Carrell 3-6 0-0 6, Brevet 8-12 2-2 19. Totals 32-62 4-7 76.

Whitworth (20-4, 12-2) - Weston 0-0 0-0 0, Mix 1-2 1-2 3, Williams 9-14 3-4 28, Wickers 4-13 2-4 11, Jones 4-9 0-0 11, Dunham 4-6 5-7 13, Arkills 2-2 1-2 5, Beckman 1-2 0-0 3, Schulz 1-1 1-1 3, Jordan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-49 13-20 77.

Halftime score - PLU 44, Whtw 42. 3-point goals - PLU 8-19 (Mills, Douglass 0-1, Peirce 2-5, Mackey 1-2, Peterson 1-4, Dahlberg 2-3, Brevet 1-2), Whtw 12-25 (Williams 7-9, Wickers 1-6, Jones 3-7, Dunham 0-1, Beckman 1-2). Total fouls - PLU 18, Whtw 12. Fouled out - None. Technical fouls - None. Rebounds - PLU 26 (Four with 3 each), Whtw 33 (Arkills 7). Assists - PLU 24 (Mills, Douglass 6 each), Whtw 18 (Wickers 5).

, DataTimes