Improving Pirates Win Another One
Warren Friedrichs isn’t about to use the words “Whitworth men’s basketball team” and “great” in the same sentence now that his team has won three straight games.
But coax the veteran coach a bit and the word “good” might spill into the conversation.
“It’s been better,” Friedrichs said after Friday night’s 80-71 win over George Fox at the Whitworth Fieldhouse. “We’ll take any win we can get. The young guys are playing better. They’re a bunch of freshmen and sophomores and they’ve got to learn.”
The improvement has produced five wins in the last seven game, following a midseason five-game losing streak. The Pirates improved to 12-11, 7-8 in the Northwest Conference and will close the season at home tonight against first-place Lewis & Clark College.
George Fox (8-15, 4-11) throttled Whitworth earlier this season 84-64, but the Bruins have been in a tailspin since, losing seven of their last eight games.
Friday’s game saw Whitworth trail just once, 10-9 at 15:28 in the first half. Senior forward Kevin McDaniel had another big night, dropping in 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds.
But it was four reserves who had Friedrichs talking as they combined for 42 points and 13 of the team’s 40 rebounds.
Sophomore Travis Meserve scored 13 points in the first half and finished with 15. Freshman Chase Williams chipped in 12 points, sophomore David Rusk finished with eight points, and freshman Kyle Jensen scored seven points and pulled down five rebounds.
George Fox junior wing Jordan Green led all scorers with 20 points including 4 of 10 from 3-point range. The Bruins, trailing by as many as 19 points a minute into the second half, continually went to the long ball, hitting 11 of 31.
The Bruins managed to get as close as 70-66 when Green scored a layup with 3:41 left to play. But the Pirates put together a 6-0 run to give them a 76-66 lead with 44 seconds left in the game.
“We brought a lot more intensity to the table tonight and we’re finally starting to come together and play like a team,” Jensen said.
Whitworth 80, George Fox 71
George Fox (8-15, 4-11) - Melvin 5-14 0-0 14, Green 8-17 0-0 20, J. Macy 16 3-3 5, Milner 2-4 0-0 4, Coleman 4-7 0-0 4, Linder 2-3 0-0 4, Gonzales 1-1 0-0 2, K. Macy 0-2 0-0 2, Hollin 2-4 0-0 5, McGarry 0-0 0-0 0, Green 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 28-64 4-5 71.
Whitworth (12-11, 7-8) - Ramey 2-9 0-0 5, Luce 0-50-0 0, Meserve 5-9 3-4 15, Gazdik 3-7 3-4 10, Williams 5-8 1-1 12, Nelson 3-7 0-0 6, Rusk 2-4 3-4 8, Jensen 2-2 3-4 7, McDaniel 6-10 5-6 17. Totals 28-61 18-23 80.
Halftime - Whitworth 43, George Fox 29. 3-point goals - George Fox 11-31 (Melvin 4-8, Green 4-10, Gonzales 1-2, Hollin 1-3, Coleman 1-3, J. Macy 0-1, Milner 0-2, k. Macy 0-2), Whitworth 6-20 (Meserve 2-6, Williams 1-1, Gaxdik 1-3, Rusk 1-3, Ramey 1-5, Nelson 0-2). Fouled out - Melvin. Rebounds - George Fox 33 (Melvin, Green, J. Macy, Coleman 5), Whitworth 40 (McDaniel 9). Assists - George Fox 15 (Green 4), Whitworth 17 (Ramey, Gazdik 4). Total fouls - George Fox 19, Whitworth 6. Technicals - none.
Women
Whitworth 55, George Fox 49
Jamie Wakefield scored a game-high 16 points and had seven rebounds and Emily Stuenkel added 13 points and nine rebounds as the Pirates defeated the first-place Bruins at the Whitworth Fieldhouse. The win ended the visitor’s 11-game win streak and hurt the Bruins’ chances of winning the conference title outright.
Whitworth (15-7, 9-4 Northwest Conference) led by as many as 11 points with 14 minutes left to play before George Fox (18-4, 11-2) began a comeback and came as close as 48-46 with 1:42 left in the game. The Pirates sealed the win by hitting 6 of 8 free throws in the final 1:20.
Katie Greller, the conference’s leading scorer with an average of 16.9 points per game, finished with five points and a game-high 10 rebounds for George Fox.
George Fox (18-4, 11-2) - Prazeau 5-11 1-2 11, Thompson 4-8 0-2 9, K. Greller 2-5 1-3 5, Freeman 3-11 0-1 7, Clark 1-5 0-0 2, Heuberger 1-2 0-0 2, Barram 2-7 0-1 4, T. Greller 3-6 0-0 9, Santos 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-56 2-9 49.
Whitworth (15-7, 9-4) - Ewart 0-3 0-0 0, Middlesworth 0-3 0-0 0, Stuenkel 3-10 5-6 13, Dreewes 0-0 0-0 0, Olson 1-10 5-6 7, Wilder 3-6 0-0 6, Ratcliff 0-0 0-0 0, Slwooko 3-7 2-2 9, Wakefield 7-16 0-0 16, Bandy 0-1 0-0 0, Bennett 1-6 2-4 4. Totals 18-62 14-18 55.
Halftime - Whitworth 26, George Fox 19. 3-point goals - George Fox 5-22 (T. Greller 3-6, Thompson 1-3, Freeman 1-5, Prazeau 0-1, K. Greller 0-1, Heuberger 0-1, Santos 0-1, Clark 0-4), Whitworth 5-15 (Stuenkel 2-3, Wakefield 2-4, Slwooko 1-3, Ewart 0-1, Olson 0-2, Middlesworth 0-2). Fouled out - K. Greller. Rebounds - George Fox 40 (K. Greller 10), Whitworth 46 (Wakefield 9). Assists - Geroge Fox 7 (Thompson, Barram 3), Whitworth 10 (Wakefield, Ewart 2). Total fouls - George Fox 17, Whitworth 11. Technicals - None. A - 415.