Whitman hands Whitworth men first loss

WALLA WALLA – Whitworth’s dreams of a perfect season were crushed Tuesday in an 87-71 Northwest Conference loss to No. 20 Whitman.

The top-ranked Pirate men fought back after a sluggish start and trailed by just four at the half, but the Missionaries opened the second half on a 13-0 run, building a lead Whitworth just couldn’t overcome.

Whitman’s Tim Howell scored a game-high 28 points, Phillip Chircu came off the bench for 13 and Evan Martin grabbed 11 rebounds. The Missionaries (17-3, 9-2) made 28 of 31 free throws.

Kyle Roach scored a career-high 18 points off the bench for Whitworth (19-1, 10-0). George Valle added 16 points and moved into 10th place on the Pirates’ all-time scoring list with 1,305 points.

Whitworth suffered its worst shooting night of the season, making only 23 of 63 shots. The Pirates beat Whitman 95-89 in Spokane on Jan. 5. Their next game is Saturday at home against NWC foe Pacific.