Pirates Absorb Another Hard-To-Fathom Defeat

Men’s basketball

Don’t expect Whitworth College men’s basketball coach Warren Friedrichs to be much of a mystery fan, not after his Pirates lost for the second straight night in a game that wasn’t decided until the final page was turned.

The Pirates followed a Friday night loss to Carroll College with another cliffhanger at home, dropping a 72-67 decision to Lewis-Clark State, 11th-ranked in the most recent NAIA Division I poll.

The storyline Saturday was a disturbing sequel for the Bucs, who once again held a double-digit halftime lead, this time by 38-26. But another second-half disaster befell the Pirates, who shot only 25 percent after intermission while L-C State hit almost 70 percent.

Nevertheless, Whitworth (3-4) hung in until the end, battling back from a seven-point deficit with 4:30 left to trail by only 70-67. With 22 seconds left, the Pirates worked around the perimeter for Ryan Nelson’s attempt to tie, but the shot was off the rim and the Warriors rebounded and made two free throws to protect their victory.

L-C State, with five senior starters, had the edge in experience, size and quickness, but coach George Pfeifer was unhappy with the first 20 minutes.

“We played like a bunch of jump shooters,” he said, “and we’re not.” When he learned that L-C State had only two field goals outside the paint in the second half, he smiled as he noted, “That’s a good thing for the Warriors!”

After an ineffective first half offensively, the Warriors showed great patience and determination to push the ball inside. Defensively, they stayed with a zone, but gave the Pirates a variety of looks, including plenty of double-teams early in the half.

Friedrichs was disappointed after the second narrow loss of the season to the Warriors, who defeated Whitworth 63-61 in Lewiston two weeks ago.

“They just had way too many easy baskets in the second half,” he said. “That’s another good ballclub. I told our kids that we won’t face many more with the kind of athletes we’ve seen the last two nights.

“They were real effective in their zone, but what hurt us wasn’t so much our missed shots at the end. You can’t always control what happens when you put it up there, but we didn’t get the defensive stops we needed at the other end.”

Jeremy Jeppesen led L-C State with 17 points, Phillip Way had 15 and Issac Castro 13. Collectively, those three made 17 of 24 shots from the field, and missed only two second-half attempts.

Whitworth had four players in double figures, led by Bryan Depew with 14 and Kelson Ramey with 13.

Lewis-Clark St. 72, Whitworth 67

Lewis-Clark State (7-3) - Price 1-3 4-6 6, Jeremy Jeppesen 6-8 4-4 17, Castro 6-9 0-1 13, Bender 4-9 0-0 8, Divranos 0-0 0-0 0, Meneely 0-3 0-0 0, Barney 3-6 1-1 7, Way 5-7 5-5 15, Wilson 2-3 1-1 5. Totals - 27-48 15-18 72.

Whitworth (3-4) - Williams 1-3 0-0 3, Ramey 5-10 2-2 13, Depew 3-3 8-9 14, Rusk 3-11 2-2 10, Jensen 3-6 1-2 7, Meserve 2-4 0-0 6, Bierlink 0-1 0-0 0, Nelson 3-9 2-2 11, Olsen 0-1 0-0 2, Luce 1-2 0-0 2. Totals - 21-50 16-19 67.

Halftime-Whit 38, LCSC 26. 3-point goals-LCSC 3-7 (Jeppesen 1-1, Castro 1-2, Bender 1-2, Price 0-1, Meneely 0-1), Whit 9-30 (Nelson 3-9, Meserve 2-4, Rusk 2-8, Williams 1-3, Ramey 1-6). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-LCSC 29 (Bender 6), Whit 26 (Depew 7). Assists-LCSC 10 (Price 5), Whit 14 (Ramey 5). Total fouls-LCSC 18, Whit 18. Technicals-none. A-771.

CC Spokane 88, Everett 77

Andre Ervin totaled 32 points, 14 rebounds and five assists to propel the Sasquatch (5-3) to a non-conference road win over the Trojans (2-3).

CCS shot 60 percent (21 of 35) from the floor in the first half to open up a 54-47 lead at the break. The Sasquatch outrebounded Everett 57-36.

Chad Quesnell added 18 points and John Focht chipped in with 14 points and five rebounds for the Sasquatch.

CC Spokane (5-3) - DaShawn 2-8 0-0 5, Quesnell 5-13 6-9 18, Biggar 2-3 0-1 4, Svennungsen 0-0 0-0 0, Prazak 2-4 2-2 6, D. Ervin 0-0 0-0, Focht 7-9 0-0 14, Whitman 2-5 5-8 9, Harris 0-2 0-2 0, A. Evin 12-18 8-18, Fusare 0-2 0-0 0. Totals - 32-64 21-36 88.

Everett (2-3) - Avery 6-15 3-4 19, DiTomassi 1-7 5-6 7, Engels 1-2 0-0 3, Svec 3-10 2-2 11, Anderson 2-7 0-0 4, Cook 1-2 3-5 5, Sowinski 3-10 0-0 7, Dealy 2-6 0-0 5, Hulquist 5-11 5-6 16, Engleson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals - 24-71 18-23 77.

Halftime-CCS 54, ECC 47. 3-point goals-CCS 3-8 (Quesnell 2-5, Bedfored 1-3), ECC 11-35 (Avery 4-11, Svec 3-5, Engles 1-2, Hulquist 1-2, Dealy 1-3, Sowinski 1-6, Anderson 0-2, DiTomassi 0-4). Fouled out-Engleson. Rebounds-CCS 57 (Ervin 14), ECC 36 (Hulquist 9). Assists-CCS 20 (Bedford 6), ECC 17 (Avery 8). Total fouls-CCS 23, ECC 28. Technicals- none.