Whits whip UPS, earn NCAA berth
Imposing one’s will on an opponent is rarely an easy task – especially against a strong-willed opponent.
But Whitworth University made it look surprisingly simple Saturday night in cruising past the University of Puget Sound 96-69 in the championship game of the Northwest Conference men’s basketball tournament.
Senior forward Ryan Symes equaled his career-high single-game point total by throwing in 33, and junior point guard Ross Nakamura did a splendid job of dealing with UPS’s full-court defensive pressure as the Pirates (20-6) earned the NWC’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second straight year.
“At the beginning of the year, nobody thought these guys would be cutting down the nets as undisputed league champions again,” Whitworth coach Jim Hayford said as he watched his players do just that at the Fieldhouse following Saturday’s unexpectedly lopsided victory. “And that makes this all the more gratifying.”
The Pirates, who also won the NWC’s regular-season title by a single game over the Loggers (19-7), will learn who their first-round tournament opponent will be at 6 a.m. Monday when the NCAA releases its 59-team pairings bracket.
Until then, they can savor a well-deserved win that came against a dangerous, high-scoring UPS team they beat twice during the regular season by the much closer scores of 83-78 and 80-78.
Along with Symes’ offensive production, Whitworth got 18 points from freshman forward David Riley and 17 from junior center Calvin Jurich, who also pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
Symes, a 6-foot-5 beast on the low blocks who was recently named the NWC’s player of the year, made 8 of 15 field goals and 17 of 18 free throws, while Riley did most of his damage from the perimeter, knocking down 5 of 9 3-point attempts.
“I thought Ryan Symes showed tonight why he was our league’s player of the year,” Hayford said.
Yet it was Nakamura who earned most of Hayford’s praise after another outstanding floor game that saw him play 38 minutes and commit only one turnover against UPS’s unnerving defensive pressure. In addition, Nakamura tracked down nine rebounds, handed out three assists, came up with a couple of steals and scored six of his nine points during a 17-2 early second-half run that put Whitworth ahead 60-38 and in control for good.
“He’s just unshakeable,” Hayford said of his nervy point guard, a first-year transfer from Diablo Valley (Calif.) Junior College, who leads the nation in assists-to-turnovers ratio. “He just came in here and made his own mark. You can’t say enough good things about him. He’s unbelievably steady – a real difference maker.”
Jurich’s points and rebounds totals were both career bests, and helped take some defensive pressure in the post off Symes, who came in averaging 18.8 points per game.
UPS, which came in forcing an average of more than 22 turnovers a game, failed to rattle the Pirates, who kept the game at a comfortable and deliberate tempo in holding the Loggers to their second-lowest point total of the season.
Antwan Williams paced UPS with 19 points, while Taylor Marsh added 18.