Christian Jurlina scores 26, Whitworth topples George Fox again, 91-70

No one likes a rerun. Well, unless you’re a Whitworth fan.

The Pirates had the chance to handle George Fox for the second time this season, and they took the opportunity.

After they toppled the Bruins in Newberg, Oregon, a month ago by a 30 points, the Pirates brought the heat again and shut down George Fox 91-70 at the Whitworth Fieldhouse to extend their winning streak to six games.

But Friday night’s 21-point margin was not exactly the same stomping the Bucs had delivered at the Bruins’ home court in January – at least in the first half.

Whitworth immediately piled up a six-point lead and kept the Bruins off the board until 17:32. But its run didn’t last too long.

For more than three minutes the Pirates (21-3, 12-3 Northwest Conference) struggled to get their outside shots to drop and George Fox took advantage. The Bruins went on a 6-0 run and eventually tied the score at 14 with almost 11 minutes left in the first.

It wasn’t until freshman Benjamin Nick pulled the ball inside the paint for a couple of layups that the Bucs were able to create some space between them and the third-place Bruins (10-14, 8-7).

“We’ve got a balanced team,” Whitworth head coach Matt Logie said. “On a night like that you continue to shot shots in rhythm and try to get the ball inside.”

Despite hitting only 20 percent (2 of 10) of their 3-point shots before halftime, the Pirates only missed three shots from two-point range (16 of 19). By intermission, Whitworth had built a 13-point lead (49-36) over the Bruins.

The Bucs pulled away from George Fox by as much as 22 in the second half. The Pirates had three players score in double digits. Senior Christian Jurlina led the pack with 26 points, three points shy of his career high and four shy of the 30-point mark no Pirate has been able to hit this season.

“I don’t think anyone on this team has got 30, it’s really annoying,” Jurlina said. “It’s a secondary goal. Obviously the team’s performance comes first. Obviously, getting to the 30s is a nice individual goal, but I’m not too worried that I didn’t make it.”

Jurlina hit 68.8 percent of his shots from the field and dished out five assists. Freshman Ben College followed Jurlina with 12 points and sophomore Kyle Roach tossed in another 10 points for Whitworth.

The Pirates have one more game on Saturday against Lewis & Clark before heading to the conference semifinal on Thursday. The top four teams in the conference standings will qualify for the NWC tournament. Whitworth already clinched the second playoff spot, with second-ranked Whitman (14-0) taking the No. 1 spot.

George Fox and Linfield both clinched the final two spots in next week’s tournament after Linfield topped PLU on Friday night. They remained tied at third ahead of Saturday night when Linfield faces Willamette and George Fox visits Whitman.