Whit men open NWC at home

The Northwest Conference men’s basketball tournament tips off Thursday and No. 1 seed Whitworth (20-5) will play host to No. 4 Lewis & Clark (17-8) at 7 p.m. at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

No. 2 Whitman (16-9) plays host to No. 3 Puget Sound (14-11) at 8 p.m. If Whitworth, which dropped two spots to No. 15 in the D3hoops.com poll this week, wins, it would host the championship game on Saturday.

For the women, Whitworth lost its final game against Lewis & Clark last week to drop into third place, meaning it must travel to play in the opening round Thursday.

No. 3 seed Whitworth (18-7) will play at No. 2 seed George Fox (22-3). If the Pirates win, they would play the winner of the other Thursday matchup, between No. 1 seed Whitman (25-0) and No. 4 Puget Sound (16-9).

The higher remaining seed would host the championship game on Saturday, according to Whitworth sports information director Steve Flegel.

Thomas Clouse