Occidental overcomes Whits, 68-67

Jon Young hit 6 of 10 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 21-points, but it wasn’t enough to save the Whitworth Pirates from a 68-67 loss to Occidental in a non-league men’s basketball game Monday in Los Angeles.

Young led four Pirates (7-3) in double figures. George Tucker added 17 points, Bryan Williams 12 and Kevin Hasenfus 10.

Occidental (8-1) also had four double-figure scorers, led by Sam Betty’s 15 points.

Whitworth, getting seven of its 12 first-half baskets from 3-point range, opened a 38-33 lead at the intermission. But Occidental limited the Pirates to just two 3-pointers in the second half and had a 13-7 free throw margin to fuel he rally. Occidental hit 16 of 21 free throws in the game to Whitworth’s 14 of 17.

Gant commits to EWU

A second star on Pullman’s state championship football team is going to continue his career at Eastern Washington.

Speedy wide receiver/kick returner Ashton Gant has committed to the Eagles. Fullback J.C. Sherritt earlier picked EWU.

“I’ve always looked at Eastern,” the 5-foot-10, 165-pound Gant said. “They’ve had a very good football team the last few years. I went to a couple games last season. I like the coaches, I like the offense they play, and it’s close to home.”

Gant had 27 catches for 693 yards as the Greyhounds went 14-0 to win the 2A championship.