This Pirates Foe Also Takes The Long View

What’s in the Whitworth College men’s basketball team’s short-term future?

Still another NAIA Division II tournament team that’s not shy about shooting from long range. The Pirates’ second-round opponent - Cardinal Stritch University, a school of 950 students in Milwaukee - knows how to rack up the points.

Wednesday’s first-round upset win offered proof as the Crusaders (24-8) topped the century mark for the seventh time to send ninth-seeded Central Methodist (Mo.) College home. The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference school scored 60 points in the first half and hung on to win 103-94.

Cardinal Stritch averages 84.2 points per game and has given up 73.3. Eighth-seeded Whitworth (19-7) - a 82-78 winner over Berea (Ky.) College on Wednesday - averages 78.2 ppg to 71.1 for its opponents. And both its first- and second-round opponents love the 3-point shot.

Berea had attempted 703 3-pointers entering the national tournament and tried 22 more here, hitting eight. Cardinal Stritch has launched 727, scoring on 266 (36.6 percent). Only host team Northwest Nazarene College has put up more (734).

Whitworth is a bit more selective from the perimeter. The Pirates entered the tournament having attempted 471 3-pointers and hitting 157 for a respectable 33.3 percent. Freshman guard Ryan Nelson leads the team, scoring on 71 of 155 3-pointers for 45.8 percent, one of the top percentages in the country.

“This is the best-shooting team I’ve ever coached,” said Cardinal Stritch’s seventh-year coach Denny Fox, whose team made it to nationals for the first time.

However, there’s more to both teams than their sharpshooters.

Whitworth mostly relies on big men Jeff Mix (14.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg), Ben Heimerman (13.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg), Greg Jones (11.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and steady reserve Doug Schulz (7.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg). Cardinal Stritch’s inside men are 6-foot-7 Thorsten Strauss of Darmstadt, Germany; 6-6 Joe Petelin of La Salle, Ill., and 6-6 James Barnett of Louisville, who combined for 56 points in the opener. Outside shooter Kevin Crim scored 35.

“They match us up pretty well from the physical size,” Whitworth coach Warren Friedrichs said. “It’s a matter of survival. The winner advances to the next round.”

Homegrown talent on hand

Former area players D.J. Vick, a 1996 Lewis and Clark High graduate, and T.J. Fischhaber, a 1995 Medical Lake High grad, are competing here.

Vick is a starter for Western Baptist College, a team that also has made it into the second round.

The 6-4 forward, a member of the Tigers’ 1996 State AAA tournament team, is averaging 5.9 ppg and 3.6 rpg. He attended Bellevue Community College out of high school but didn’t make the basketball team. After taking a year off, he enrolled at the Christian school last fall.

Vick, who described himself as “not a very nice person in high school,” has become active in the church and openly discusses his relationship with Christ. He’s studying for a degree in pastoral ministry.

“Basketball used to be my life, my passion. It’s now become something I’m committed to just for fun,” said Vick, who now resides in Seattle.

Fischhaber, a junior with sophomore eligibility, is the 12th man on the Siena Heights College team. He’s played in five games. Thursday, last year’s national runner-up eliminated Castleton State 89-67.

The 6-5 forward, who comes from a military family, lives in Michigan with his mother but has spent most of his life in Washington.

“I love it out here. The team jokes around and said they should have bought me a one-way ticket,” Fischhaber said. “Most of these guys are from Detroit and have never seen the mountains.”

Empty seats in Boise

Anyone here hoping to catch the NCAA Tournament subregional games in Boise found themselves in luck. Despite the announced sellout, it was possible to find tickets outside the pavilion for face value ($25.72 per session) or less. There were plenty of empty seats for Thursday’s morning session.

, DataTimes