Whitworth men get first-round bye in D3 tournament

The No. 3 Whitworth Pirates learned Monday that they are staying home and were selected as only one of two teams in the 62-team NCAA Division III Tournament to receive a first-round bye.

“It’s a great testament to the regular season these guys had,” coach Matt Logie said. “We are looking forward to playing here at the Fieldhouse.”

The Pirates (26-1) won the Northwest Conference tournament over the weekend for the 10th straight time. Whitworth also won the league’s regular-season crown for a conference-record seventh consecutive season.

Whitworth’s only loss came on the road to No. 9 Whitman (22-4), which received an at-large bid and will play host to Chapman (20-9) in a first-round game. The Panthers won the Southern Conference Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

The Missionaries and Chapman tip off on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Walla Walla. The winner comes to Spokane to play the Pirates in the Whitworth Fieldhouse on Saturday at 7.

The Pirates obviously know Whitman, which finished second in the Northwest Conference. The Pirates edged the Missionaries 95-89 in Spokane on Jan. 5. But Whitworth suffered its only loss, an 87-71 beating, on Feb.2 at Walla Walla.

However, Pacific Lutheran crushed the Missionaries 82-68 in the semifinal game of the conference tournament, which denied a rematch of the conference’s two best teams.

Logie said his players are not motivated for the chance to avenge their only loss.

“We don’t care who comes to play on Saturday,” he said. “You could bring the Knicks here and we’d be excited about the opportunity.”

Logie also said the coaches are familiar with Chapman, from Orange, Calif. The Panthers earned an automatic bid by beating Redlands on Saturday.

“They have been one of the best programs in California for some time now,” Logie said. “We have a lot of respect for the job they do.”

Several program supporters were on hand Monday when the coaches and players gathered at Graves Gym for the selection show. They cheered when they learned were staying home and received the bye.

“We got to celebrate and enjoy the moment. It was great,” Logie said. “Now we have to take it one game at at time and try to make our next game our best game.”