Plu Tops Whitworth, Sending Bucs On Hiatus Lutes Will Play For Ncic Title, While Pirates Await Nationals

The invitation to the NAIA Division II national tournament has been in the mail since Saturday night.

It’s a darn good thing. Because Wednesday night at the Fieldhouse, the fifth-ranked Whitworth College men’s basketball team lost to Pacific Lutheran University 68-66 in a first-round Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges tournament game.

The loss snapped Whitworth’s 43-game home winning streak that began Dec. 10, 1994. It also means the regular-season champion Pirates (18-7) will be idle for two weeks before competing at nationals. PLU (17-8) will play Lewis & Clark Saturday at Portland for the NCIC championship and the second NCIC berth. LC defeated George Fox 91-77 Wednesday night.

Whitworth’s game was tied six times in the second half, and it came down to Pirate Greg Jones, whose three free throws could have sent the game into overtime.

With less than a second left and the Pirates trailing 68-65, Jones attempted to hoist a 30-foot desperation shot. He was fouled in the act by PLU’s Torey Swanson. Jones - a 72.8 percent field-goal shooter, bounced his first attempt off the front of the rim and that was the ballgame. He made his second and missed his third.

“We weren’t ready,” said Whitworth’s Tyler Jordan. “It happened against Lewis & Clark. It happened at Seattle University. It kills us for our seeding. Now we’re right in the mix with the tough teams.”

Two weeks ago, the Pirates erased a 17-point deficit to beat LC at home. Six nights ago, Whitworth lost on the road at Seattle University.

Wednesday night, Jordan, a junior point guard, did his best to keep the Pirates’ home streak alive.

Whitworth came out shooting 4 of 13 in the first 10 minutes, but Jordan was 3 of 4, including two of his game-high four 3-pointers. He finished with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and four steals on a night when the team shot only 22 of 58 for 37.9 percent and 14 of 20 from the free-throw line.

Jeff Mix, coming off a combined two-game, 41-point road trip, added 13 points.

The Lutes, losers to Whitworth twice during the regular season, had great success inside. Seth Albright, a 6-foot-3 wing/post, led PLU with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting. His second of two monster jams with 6:26 left in the first half gave PLU a 27-20 lead. Brad Brevet, a 6-6 wing/ post, added 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

The Lutes biggest lead, 36-28, came with 2 minutes left in the first half.

“Their post play is tough. We didn’t have anybody to handle Albright,” Whitworth coach Warren Friedrichs said.

“You’ve got to try and establish some stops, and with the way they were executing, they focused on their size and their inside game.”

Whitworth took its first second-half lead, 47-46, with 11:23 remaining when Jordan cut through the paint and scored a layup. From then on, the game was a one-possession contest and the Pirates never led by more than two points. Its last lead, 62-60, went up when Mix hit a baseline jumper with 4:58 remaining.

Now, the Pirates will practice until their first national tournament game, which will be no sooner than March 11. The pairings will be announced March 4.

Pacific Lutheran 68, Whitworth 66

Pacific Lutheran (17-8) - Alseth 0-0 0-0 0, Kelly 0-3 0-0 0, Albright 8-10 2-3 18, Swanson 5-9 0-0 13, Manners 1-2 0-0 2, Preuit 4-4 0-0 9, McNight 3-8 1-3 7, Brevet 7-12 3-3 17, Schlottmann 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-50 6-9 68.

Whitworth (18-7) - Mix 5-11 3-4 13, Weston 0-2 2-2 2, Schulz 2-3 0-0 4, Nakanishi 1-1 0-0 2, Nelson 3-10 0-0 8, Heimerman 2-8 5-6 9, Jordan 7-12 1-2 19, Jones 2-10 3-6 9, Ruebel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 14-20 66.

Halftime - Pacific Lutheran 38, Whitworth 32. 3-point goals - Pacific Lutheran 4-9 (Preuit 1-1, Swanson 3-4, Manners 0-1, McNight 0-1, Brevet 0-2), Whitworth 8-25 (Jordan 4-7, Jones 2-7, Nelson 2-8, Weston 0-1, Heimerman 0-1, Reubel 0-1). Fouled out - Whitworth, Heimerman 5. Rebounds - Pacific Lutheran 29 (Brevet 8), Whitworth 33 (Jordan 8). Assists - Pacific Lutheran 19 (Kelly 6, Swanson 6), Whitworth 12 (Nelson 4). Total fouls - Pacific Lutheran 17, Whitworth 14. Technicals - None.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WAITING GAME Whitworth must wait a week to find out its opponent in the NAIA Division II national tournament.