Whitworth men take momentum from wins against No. 15 Elmhurst, Whitman into road swing
Following a four-game losing streak and some questions about the team’s identity, the Whitworth men’s basketball team has shown resolve to take two consecutive momentous victories heading into conference play on the road.
On the heels of a comeback victory over the unbeaten, 15th-ranked Elmhurst (Illinois) on Saturday, the Pirates (7-5, 3-0) hosted Northwest Conference rival Whitman (7-5, 1-2) at the Whitworth Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
In a rematch of last year’s Northwest Conference championship, the Pirates and Blues traded punches for much of the game before Whitworth grabbed a lead and did not let go, winning 76-69.
“I feel like we’ve been the two powerhouses in the conference – at least since I’ve been here, it’s always been Whitman and us in the championships,” Whitworth senior forward Jake Holtz said. “We know those guys well. We have a lot of respect for them, but we know we can beat them and we know what we’re capable of. We just have to show up.
“It definitely has more of an emotional attachment to it just because there’s a history of those matchups.”
Jai Deshpande, Whitman’s senior guard and the conference’s leading scorer, came out firing in the first half, knocking down four 3-pointers and racking up a quick 18 points.
Holtz, who was called for two quick fouls and spent most of the first half on the bench, credited senior guard Sullivan Menard for keeping the game within reach. Menard finished some tough buckets at the rim and went 4 for 4 from the field for 11 points in the first 20 minutes.
The Blues took a one-point lead into halftime, but Whitworth coach Damion Jablonski said the team remained optimistic and connected.
“We really needed to make adjustments on both sides of the ball,” Jablonski said. “I thought we let Deshpande get open way too much in that first half and he’s a great player. … We needed to make some defensive adjustments there. Offensively, they did take us out of some things in the post play the way they were sagging and we didn’t respond very well.”
Coming out of the half, the Pirates often played through Holtz, the team’s leading scorer. He finished with 22 points, but collected 16 points, five rebounds and three steals in the second half alone.
“I was trying to be aggressive,” Holtz said. “I knew that the foul trouble wasn’t going to keep me out of the second half. … Coach started calling plays for me and when the double came, I made the right play and we did what we needed to do.”
Whitman pulled the game back within three points with less than 1 minute left, but Holtz’s tip-in and crucial steal, as well as clutch free-throw shooting by several players, helped put the game away.
The Blues played without senior forward Jander Cline, who averages nearly 15 points per game. The teams will match up again in Walla Walla later this month.
The win maintains Whitworth’s perfect conference record after defeating Willamette and Pacific earlier in the season at home.
The Pirates were picked to win the conference in a preseason coaches’ poll.
Whitworth will look toward three consecutive road games in Oregon, starting with Lewis & Clark on Friday night, then George Fox and Linfield next week. George Fox (9-2, 2-0) will likely present the biggest challenge.
“I think the biggest thing for our game Friday is that we’re coming off of two very emotional games and we need to make sure that we’re locked in and we don’t have an emotional or effort letdown,” Jablonski said.