Knockout in 2nd round

Jim Hayford has a favorite little recruiting line he likes to use when courting potential Whitworth University basketball recruits.

“I tell them, ‘We’re not the big time, but we are the best of the small time,’ ” the Pirates ninth-year head men’s basketball coach explained.

And on Saturday in the Whitworth Fieldhouse, Hayford’s fourth-ranked Bucs (26-2) did nothing to discredit their coach’s sales pitch, dismantling 12th-ranked Chapman University 77-56 to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament where they will face Eastern Mennonite (23-4) on Friday at a time and site that will be announced this morning.

A standing-room-only crowd that was officially announced at a seemingly low 1,760 – probably to keep the Fire Marshall from asking any questions – saw the Pirates put together a workman-like effort to bump their school-record winning streak to 25 straight and sideline the independent Panthers (24-3), who came in riding a 14-game streak of their own.

Senior center Nate Montgomery scored a game-high 23 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for Whitworth, which also got 22 points, four assists and three steals from senior point guard Eric Beal.

“Those two seniors stepped up on the big stage and really played well,” Hayford said. “Nate showed again why he’s one of the best post players in the country, and Eric really ran the show for us.

“We had a great game plan coming in, and while coaches make the game plan, it’s the players who have to get it done. And ours did tonight.”

Whitworth made a strong early statement against the nation’s top rebounding team, chasing down two offensive boards on their first possession, which ended with a David Riley putback. And the Pirates then went on to score on six of their next nine trips down the floor – against a Panthers team ranked third in the nation in field-goal percentage defense, nonetheless – and grabbed a quick 15-5 lead.

The Bucs built their advantage to 21-5 behind a swarming man-to-man defense that held Chapman scoreless for more than 61/2 minutes, but ran into a scoring drought of their own that lasted almost 31/2 minutes and let the Panthers close to within 32-26 at intermission.

But that was as close as they would get, despite Whitworth’s struggles from the 3-point line, where they have feasted most of the season.

Against Chapman, the Pirates made only two of their first 16 attempts from beyond the arc and finished an uncharacteristic 5 for 20.

“We were a little cold in that first half – I know I bricked a couple of 3s,” said Montgomery, who made the other seven shots he took from the field, along with 9 of 11 free-throw attempts. “But we still had a pretty good inside-out game and that got us some even better (long-range) looks in the second half.”

Hayford said he thought his players might have been “a little to amped up” in the early going.

“And I think that added adrenaline affected our shooting,” he said. “We’re as good a shooting team as any in the country, and we didn’t shoot the ball well tonight. But we shot it better than them.”

Chapman shot just 37.5 percent for the game and got only four points from its second-leading scorer Griffin Ramme, who was averaging almost 14 per game.

Conventional wisdom would suggest the Pirates will be sent east – maybe as far as North Carolina – for the four-team sectional that will determine one of the Final Four participants.

“It’s going to be a fun adventure, no matter where they send us,” Montgomery said. “And we’ve got great coaches and great teammates to do it with. I can’t wait.”