Pirates’ Rally Comes Up Short

The best thing about Whitworth’s 77-73 Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges loss to George Fox in Newberg, Ore., Saturday night was that it marked the end of five straight road games to open the season.

“It was a real close game in the first half,” said Pirates coach Warren Friedrichs. “We were down by double-digits (16 points) late in the second half, but we hit some 3-pointers and only trailed by two with 18 seconds left.”

The Bruins’ Aaron Newkirk grabbed a long rebound of a missed George Fox free throw and, after he was fouled, sank two free throws to seal the win.

The Bruins improved to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in league. Whitworth fell to 2-3, 1-1.

George Fox 77, Whitworth 73

Whitworth (2-3) - Mix 3-10 5-6 11, Ruebel 3-6 1-2 8, Jones 7-11 2-2 18, Nelson 3-9 0-0 9, Jordan 3-5 3-4 11, Ramey 0-1 0-0 0, Weston 1-3 2-4 4, Nakanishi 2-6 2-3 6, McDaniel 2-3 2-3 6. Totals 24-54 17-24 73.

George Fox (3-2) - Faber 5-10 0-0 13, Coleman 0-1 0-0 0, Gallop 7-16 4-6 18, Valentine 4-7 5-6 16, Newkirk 3-10 4-4 12, Green 2-3 2-2 8, Cruz 0-2 3-4 3, Valentine 2-3 2-4 7, Kroon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 20-26 77.

Halftime - George Fox 33, Whitworth 30. 3-point goals - Whitworth 8-22 (Nelson 3-9, Jones 2-3, Jordan 2-3, Ruebel 1-3, Mix 0-1, Nakanishi 0-1, Weston 0-2), George Fox 11-25 (K.Valentine 3-5, Faber 3-7, Green 2-2, Newkirk 2-6, J.Valentine 1-1, Gallop 0-2, Cruz 0-2). Rebounds - Whitworth 34 (Jones 7), George Fox 33 (Gallop 12). Assists - Whitworth 12 (Jordan 5), George Fox 19 (K.Valentine, Green 5). Fouls - Whitworth 21, George Fox 23. Fouled out - K.Valentine. Technicals - none. A - 1,150.

North Idaho 94, Ricks 72

Ricks (8-3, 0-1) - Moore 2-8 0-0 4, Harrison 9-4 2-2 2, Church 4-10 0-0 12, Nelson 0-3 0-0 0, Bower 3-13 3-4 11, Amberry 0-0 0-0 0, Walker 2-3 3-4 8, Jenkins 0-0 0-0 0, Peterson 2-6 2-3 6, Lighthall 1-1 0-0 2, Dahle 5-6 5-5 15, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Wilcox 6-7 0-0 12. Totals 25-61 15-18 72.

North Idaho (6-1, 1-0) - Fields 4-12 2-4 10, Bailey 9-16 1-2 24, Goodman 5-10 0-0 14, Brosseau 0-0 0-2 0, Houston 6-7 0-0 12, Clay 5-6 0-0 14, Irvin 1-4 0-1 2, Watson 0-3 1-2 1, Fisher 1-1 1-2 3, Ryan 4-7 5-6 14. Totals 35-66 10-19 94.

Half - NIC 52, Ricks 37. 3-point goals - Ricks 7-25 (Church 4-8, Bower 2-9, Walker 1-1, Harris 0-3, Nelson 0-3, Moore 0-1), NIC 14-29 (Bailey 5-9, Clay 4-5, Goodman 4-8, Ryan 1-2, Fields 0-2, Irvin 0-2, Watson 0-1). Rebounds - Ricks 41 (Dahle 11), NIC 25 (Ryan, Fields each 5). Att. - 1,141.

, DataTimes