Pirates have it all working in victory

When it came time to close out the visiting Puget Sound Loggers Saturday at the Whitworth Fieldhouse, the Pirates passed.

And passed with enthusiasm.

Whitworth kicked its offense into high gear in the second half, securing a 78-45 win over UPS and wrapping up a sweep of its opening weekend of Northwest Conference basketball play after a Friday night victory over Pacific Lutheran.

Defensively, Whitworth had perhaps its best game of the season, holding the Loggers to 25 first-half points, with three of those coming on a shot from beyond midcourt at the buzzer by UPS.

Whitworth held UPS to under 28 percent from the field in the first half and the Loggers were even colder against the Pirate defense in the second half, finishing  the game shooting 17 for 62 from the field (27.4 percent).

Richland’s Colton McCargar scored a career-high 18 points, 13 in the first half, to lead Whitworth, but it was a display of second-half passing in transition that stole the show.

Senior Wade Gebbers dished out a game-high five assists, finding flashing teammates in traffic as the Pirates pushed their lead to as many as 29 points in the final period, working efficiently with junior backcourt mate Dustin McConnell and senior forward Mack Larkin.

“Wade has been struggling a little bit – he’s been on a week, off a week and now on a week again,” Whitworth coach Matt Logie said. “But you never have to work about Wade Gebbers’ floor game. He’s always going to find a way to make the players around him better.

“With Wade and Dustin, I think that’s just a matter of them having played together so much. This would be, what, their 36th game together. That experience is just paying off.”

Gebbers will get a week off before his next game – and can use the chance to heal up.

“I’m a little banged up right now,” Gebbers said. “My back has been bothering me and then I jammed my thumb. (Friday night) I twisted my ankle on my first shot – I came down on someone’s foot – but after all these years, you just play with things like that. You tie your shot a little tighter and just keep going.”

 Puget Sound (2-5, 0-2)—Cheledinas 2-4 0-0 4, Yarbro 3-8 3-4 9, Meyer 0-5 0-0 0, Rogers 2-4 2-2 8, Reid 0-2 2-2 2, Maw 2-7 0-0 4, Holden 2-5 0-0 4, Barber 0-1 0-0 0, Mckay 1-3 0-0 2, Rauch 0-0 0-0 0, Mukhopadhyay 0-0 0-0 0, Jobe 5-14 0-0 12, Nelson 0-6 0-0 0, Shattuck 0-1 0-0 0, Borboa 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-62 7-8 45.

Whitworth (5-1, 2-0)—Larkin 3-4 1-1 8, Valle 2-3 7-10 11, Farnsworth 1-5 2-2 4, McConnell 4-8 4-4 14, Gebbers 1-7 0-1 2, Douglas 0-1 2-2 2, McNiel 0-0 2-2 2, Ehlo 0-0 0-0 0, Payne 2-2 0-0 4, McCargar 8-13 0-0 18, Peterson 1-1 0-0 3, Aldous 2-7 0-0 5, Roth 0-0 2-2 2, McEachran 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 0-0 0-0 0, Loiler 1-2 0-0 3, Wilks 0-0 0-0 0, Hutchinson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-53 20-24 78.

Halftime—Whitworth 34, Puget Sound 25. 3-Point Goals—Puget Sound 4-22 (Cheledinas 0-2, Meyer 0-3, Rogers 2-4, Reid 0-2, Maw 0-1, Barber 0-1, Mckay 0-1, Jobe 2-7, Shattuck 0-1), Whitworth 8-20 (Larkin 1-1, McConnell 2-4, Gebbers 0-4, Douglas 0-1, McCargar 2-5, Peterson 1-1, Aldous 1-3, Loiler 1-1). Fouled Out—none. Rebounds—Puget Sound 34 (Reid, Nelson, Borboa 5), Whitworth 43 (McConnell 8). Assists—Puget Sound 8 (Rogers 3), Whitworth 15 (Gebbers 5). Total Fouls—Puget Sound 21, Whitworth 13. Technical—None. A—865.