Whitworth pulls away from Lewis & Clark in second half to reach NWC tournament final 76-60

Nearly a year to the day after an upset loss at home to Lewis & Clark ended Whitworth’s season, the men’s basketball team got its retribution on Friday night.

The Pirates held on to a narrow lead for the majority of the game before running away in the final minutes en route to a 76-60 win over the River Otters in the Whitworth Fieldhouse to advance to the Northwest Conference championship game.

“It was hard for them to ignore that,” Whitworth coach Damion Jablonski said after the game about avenging last season’s loss. “Obviously it was a bitter feeling. I think that probably motivated them some.”

The victory draws Whitworth a title matchup with Willamette, which the Pirates beat twice during the regular season.

Senior point guard Ben Nyquist led the way for the Pirates, matching his career high with 20 points while notching his first career double-double with 11 rebounds. He also grabbed four steals.

“This is my senior year and I want to give everything to win another championship,” Nyquist said after the win. “We won my sophomore year and that was one of the most rewarding feelings of my life. I want to do anything to put myself in that position again.”

After ending the regular season with a narrow loss to Puget Sound, the Pirates were eager to get back on the court on Friday.

Physicality set the tone early, as the defenses dominated and battled for rebounds, which favored the Pirates against the undersized River Otters.

The offenses began to find their rhythm midway through the first half, and the Pirates maintained a single-digit lead while the two teams traded buckets.

Whitworth took a 35-26 lead into halftime.

Coming out of the half, the experienced River Otters showed why they are a threat from deep. Senior guard Andre Treadwell hit two quick triples, and senior Kody Uyesugi hit another to immediately erase the deficit and tie the game.

But the Pirates responded and quickly jumped back ahead. Jablonski got contributions from several bench players on the night, but relied on the trio of seniors – Nyquist, Caden Bateman and Stephen Behil – to carry the load.

“Ben was just an awesome leader down the stretch and obviously stuffed the stat sheet,” Jablonski said. “… It really was, down the stretch, going and getting the ball and getting us organized and making some big plays.”

Nyquist won defensive player of the year while Jablonski took home Coach of the Year in the Northwest Conference awards that were announced on Friday.

Behil, the Pirates’ leading scorer on the year who was named to the All-Northwest Conference first team, racked up 16 points and nine rebounds.

Bateman, who has been playing his best basketball of his Pirate career down the stretch, had 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

After the River Otters continued to hang around deep into the second half, the Pirates were finally able to stretch the lead with an ambush of four 3s from four different players across a two-and-a-half minute window.

Lewis & Clark was unable to surmount the 19-point lead and the Pirates cruised to victory.

The Pirates’ physical defense held Lewis & Clark, which was atop the Northwest Conference in field goal and 3-point shooting percentages, to its second-lowest scoring total on the year.

“The way that they play – they do a lot of off-ball screening and put you through the blender, so you have to make sure you dig in and fight through things,” Jablonski said.

Junior guard Yigit Arcan led the River Otters in scoring with 18. Treadwell, also an All-Northwest Conference first-team selection, totaled 14 points and 9 rebounds, but shot 3 of 11 from deep.

Willamette, which knocked off Puget Sound prior to the Pirates’ win, is the last team standing between Whitworth and the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Pirates tip off against the Bearcats and Northwest Conference player of the year Tanner Overby on Saturday at 5 p.m.