It Takes Only A Little While For Whitworth To Regain Form

After shooting guard Ryan Nelson stopped attempting 3-point shots from 8 feet behind the line and point guard Tyler Jordan stopped being tentative with his passes, the Whitworth College men’s basketball team did what it does best at home - win.

The Pirates posted their 35th straight victory at the Whitworth Fieldhouse Friday night, downing Northwest Conference defending champ Pacific University 78-63.

“We were a little anxious to get going. We had a hard time offensively in the first half getting used to the physical nature inside and we weren’t very patient,” said Whitworth coach Warren Friedrichs, whose team was coming off a 23-day layoff. “We settled down in the second half.”

The Pirates (6-3, 2-1) built a 33-28 first-half lead, but watched the Boxers (2-7, 0-4) score eight unanswered points in the final 2:30 to take a 36-33 lead by halftime.

But the second half belonged to the home team and its 1,300-plus fans as the Pirates scored the first nine points, beginning with Jordan’s 3-pointer. Their biggest lead was 70-52 when Jeff Mix scored off a Greg Jones assist with 4 minutes remaining.

Mix, a 6-foot-6 senior, led the Pirates with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan, held scoreless in the first half, finished with 13 points.

The game marked the return of 6-6 senior Ben Heimerman, who could not play until Jan. 1 because of an eligibility rule. Heimerman played 14 minutes and finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. His biggest contributions were his three putbacks on offensive rebounds.

Whitworth also won the battle underneath, outrebounding the Boxers 45-20. The Pirates scored 16 points on second-effort shots, to Pacific’s four. Whitworth outscored Pacific in the paint 20-10.

“Ben did fine,” Friedrichs said. “Even though he didn’t have that many minutes (14), he did his normal thing. He makes all the little ones.”

Pacific - a team that lost in the second round of the NAIA Division II national tournament last year, but is rebuilding this year - shot 43 percent. Whitworth finished at 54 percent after shooting 62 percent in the second half.

“Pacific definitely came in here ready to battle. They lost one at home the other night and any coach and his team is going to have pride,” Friedrichs said.

Forward Will Kirkham, the Boxers’ leading scorer averaging 17.6 points per game, was held to 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Senior guard Colin Resch led all scorers with 20 points and was 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

Whitworth took its first double-digit lead, 58-47, on Doug Schultz’ basket with 7:45 left. Pacific quickly cut the lead to nine, but from there, Whitworth took over and outscored the visitors 10-3 in the next 2 minutes.

Heimerman led the way with four points during that span.

Whitworth 78, Pacific 63

Pacific - Elliot 0-0 0-0 0, Resch 8-13 1-2 20, Meyer 4-11 2-4 10, Kirkham 5-12 1-2 11, Tiegs 0-1 12 1, Bloomer 1-5 0-0 3, Timmerman 2-5 0-0 5, Morris 3-4 0-0 8, Miller 2-7 0-2 5, Palm 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 5-12 63.

Whitworth - Ramey 0-0 0-0 0, Mix 7-15 3-4 17, Weston 1-2 3-4 5, Schulz 2-4 2-2 6, Nakanishi 1-3 0-0 2, Nelson 2-6 1-2 7, Heimerman 6-6 0-0 12, Sullivan 1-1 0-0 2, McDaniel 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan 5-10 2-2 13, Jones 2-5 4-4 8, Ruebel 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 30-56 15-18 78.

Halftime - Pacific 36, Whitworth 33. 3-point goals - Pacific 8-19 (Resch 3-5, Morris 2-3, Bloomer 1-3, Miller 1-3, Timmerman 1-3, Meyer 0-1, Kirkham 0-1), Whitworth 3-13 (Nelson 2-6, Jordan 1-3, Weston 0-1, Nakanishi 0-1, Jones 0-1, Ruebel 0-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Pacific 20 (Kirkham 5), Whitworth 45 (Mix 11). Assists - Pacific 10 (Kirkham 3), Whitworth 13 (Weston, Nelson, Jones 3). Total fouls - Pacific 19, Whitworth 14. Technicals - None. , DataTimes