Whitworth Brings Its Losing Streak To An End

It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t pretty. But it was oh, so satisfying.

The Whitworth Pirates ended a seven-game losing streak with a thrilling 79-76 overtime victory over the George Fox Bruins in Northwest Conference men’s basketball action Saturday night at Whitworth Fieldhouse.

“I can’t get this smile off of my face,” said Whitworth coach Warren Friedrichs.

“We’re a young team and we’re not very good yet, but we’ve been in every game and tonight, we finally got over the hump and picked up a win.”

Whitworth (4-8, 2-4) got stellar efforts at both ends of the court from junior forward Kevin McDaniel and sophomore guard Ryan Nelson.

McDaniel finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds and nailed a pair of free throws with 8 seconds left in overtime to put the Whits up by three points.

Nelson came off the bench to score 16 points, 12 in the first half, and snare nine rebounds.

“Kevin and Ryan had huge games for us,” noted Friedrichs. “Kevin was the key for us defensively. We knew coming in that we had to cover their spread game and Kevin set the tone with his play.

“And Ryan coming in and making his first two 3-point attempts was a big lift for the team. He hasn’t shot well for the past six games but he was sure on tonight.”

The Bruins (8-2, 3-1) were clinging to an 11-9 lead at the 12-minute mark of the first half when Nelson entered the game.

Nelson tossed in 10 points to spark a 15-5 run over the next 5 minutes, putting the Pirates up 24-16.

George Fox stayed within striking distance thanks to the play of senior standout Mike Faber.

Faber tallied 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the floor, including a 3-pointer, and a pair of free throws to pull the Bruins to within 39-33 at the half.

George Fox came out smoking to start the second half.

Jordan Green, the Bruins’ leading scorer at 18.6 points per game, scored 19 of his game-high 23 points after the break.

Green accounted for every point in a 7-0 run that turned a 64-60 deficit into a 67-64 lead with 1:48 left to play in the second half.

McDaniel hit 1 of 2 free throws with 56 seconds left to pull the Pirates to within two points.

Then the Whits caught a break.

George Fox’s Ryan Cruz clanked a pair of free throws with 38 seconds left that could have put the Bruins up by four.

The Pirates tied the game on a rebound basket by Greg Jones with 11 seconds remaining. On the play, Faber picked up his fifth foul, but Jones missed the foul shot, sending the game into overtime.

The Pirates caught another break when Green picked up his fifth foul just 1:06 into OT.

Whitworth wrapped up the victory by making 8 of 12 free throws in the final 4 minutes.

The Pirates were up 77-76 with 14 seconds left and in possession of the ball when McDaniel made a rare mistake.

In an effort to beat the 5-second count on an inbounds pass, he threw the ball right to Cruz. But Cruz rushed a 3-point shot and McDaniel was there to grab the rebound and draw a foul.

He made both free throws and the losing streak was history.

“We made it hard on ourselves,” stated Friedrichs. “But I’m really pleased with our effort.”

Whitworth 79, George Fox 76

George Fox (8-2, 4-1) - Melvin 5-15 4-6 14, Green 7-15 8-9 23, Macy 2-6 3-4 7, Cruz 3-9 1-5 9, Kuske 0-2 0-0 0, Kroon 2-4 0-0 4, Dohren 0-0 0-0 0, Faber 6-8 4-4 19, Coleman 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 25-60 20-29 76.

Whitworth (4-8, 2-4) - Ramey 4-7 1-1 10, Meserve 0-0 0-0 0, Schulz 0-2 0-0 0, Nakanishi 3-6 0-0 7, Nelson 6-11 1-3 16, McDaniel 5-11 9-12 20, Jordan 2-8 3-4 7, Jones 5-7 4-6 14, Ruebel 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 27-55 18-26 79.

Halftime - Whitworth 39, George Fox 33. 3-point goals - George Fox 6-22 (Faber 3-4, Cruz 2-8, Green 1-4, Macy 0-1, Kuske 0-2, Melvin 0-3), Whitworth 7-19 (Nelson 3-7, Ruebel 1-1, McDaniel 1-1, Nakanishi 1-2, Ramey 1-3, Jones 0-1, Jordan 0-4). Fouled out - Green, Faber, Ramey, Nakanishi. Rebounds - George Fox 34 (Faber 8), Whitworth 41 (McDaniel 10). Assists - George Fox 11 (Coleman 4), Whitworth 14 (Jordan 5). Total fouls - George Fox 34, Whitworth 23. Technicals - None. A - 960.