Whits Have Something In Reserve

For the Whitworth Pirates, the first 6 minutes of Saturday night’s important Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges contest with Pacific University were like life in some sort of Bizarro basketball universe.

One night after they destroyed No.2-ranked Lewis and Clark, dominating the Pioneers from the opening tip, the Pirates found themselves trailing NCIC leader Pacific 19-6, and it wasn’t pretty.

All of a sudden, though, the Boxers became victims of a startling turn-around, a 21-4 late first-half run that sent Whitworth (13-3, 6-2) to an 86-77 victory at the Pirate fieldhouse.

It didn’t send them into first place, however, as Pacific (11-3, 7-1) entered the game with a two-game lead over the second-place Pirates, who nonetheless completed a huge weekend sweep over two NCIC championship contenders.

Whitworth had all sorts of statistical poster boys - Ben Heimerman with 24 points, Nate Williams with 23 and Sean Weston with 12 points, five assists and five steals. But the guy who gave the Bucs their biggest first-half lift was sophomore reserve Greg Jones.

He came off the bench with the Pirates down 25-15 and promptly scored the next nine Whitworth points on a pair of long 3s around a fastbreak bucket and free throw. Jones’ streak brought the Bucs within four, and they went on a 20-6 run to end the half with a 44-34 lead.

“I can’t believe we got the lead back that quickly,” said Pirates coach Warren Friedrichs after the win on the eve of his 50th birthday. “Pacific plays such aggressive pressure defense that we just couldn’t get anything going early, couldn’t get any flow going.

“Greg Jones? What can I say?,” Friedrichs continued. “He’s been struggling lately, and it’s tough coming off the bench when you’re not getting consistent minutes, but he sure lit a fire for us tonight.”

Jones finished with 17 points, and had a career high by halftime with 11. He made all six of his field-goal attempts and 3 of 4 free throws.

“I just decided to put it all on the table tonight,” he said. “I talked with my dad today, and he told me not to fear failure, just to go my hardest and whatever happens will happen.”

The victory didn’t come without some late-game anxiety for the Pirates, who saw Pacific trim an 18-point deficit to eight with 4:15 left. But Williams answered a stretch of sizzling Boxer shooting with a pair of 12-foot jumpers, and Heimerman owned the glass at the other end to quiet Pacific.

The Pirates shot 56 percent from the field and made 32 of 37 free throws to 5 of 16 for Pacific. They hit their first 17, including 16 for 16 in the first half.

Whitworth 86, Pacific 77

Pacific (11-3, 7-1) - Jefferies 11-18 1-3 25, Resch 1-4 1-2 3, Morganthaler 3-9 3-4 10, Fitzgerald 4-9 0-1 11, Kirkham 2-8 0-2 5, Eaton 4-6 0-2 8, Meyer 4-8 0-1 9, Krohn 3-5 0-1 6. Totals 32-67 5-16 77.

Whitworth (13-3, 6-2) - Weston 3-6 5-5 12, Mix 2-5 4-6 8, Williams 6-9 10-10 23, Schulz 0-0 0-0 0, Ga.Jones 0-6 2-4 2, Vargas 0-1 0-0 0, Heimerman 8-10 8-8 24, Jordan 0-2 0-0 0, Gr.Jones 6-6 3-4 17. Totals 25-45 32-37 86.

Halftime - Whitworth 44, Pacific 34. 3-point goals - Pacific 8-23 (Fitzgerald 3-8, Jefferies 2-5, Morganthaler 1-2, Kirkham 1-2, Meyer 1-4, Resch 0-1, Eaton 0-1), Whitworth 4-13 (Gr.Jones 2-2, Williams 1-2, Weston 1-4, Mix 0-1, Jordan 0-1, Ga.Jones 0-3). Fouled out - Fitzgerald, Meyer, Schulz. Rebounds - Pacific 28 (Jefferies 10), Whitworth 37 (Heimerman 12). Assists - Pacific 17 (Meyer 5), Whitworth 12 (Weston, Ga.Jones 5). Total fouls - Pacific 27, Whitworth 15. Technicals - None. A - NA.

, DataTimes