Feb. 21 NWC Men’s Basketball Wrap (Stories provided by host SID)

At Whitworth 60, Lewis & Clark 49

Spokane, Wash. -- Whitworth College won its first Northwest Conference title since 1998 by defeating visiting Lewis & Clark College 60-49 in a key NWC showdown on Friday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

The Pirates clinched an outright conference title by improving to 22-3 overall and 13-3 in the NWC. They had clinched at least a share of the conference title by winning at Whitman on Tuesday night.

Lewis & Clark fell to 15-9, 10-5 but clinched its own NWC playoff spot after Pacific defeated Linfield tonight.

On a night when both teams struggled to score against each other's defense, Whitworth won the battle of the boards to give themselves eight extra possessions. The Pirates outrebounded the Pioneers 39-30 and had a 12-4 edge in offensive rebounds.

Two key Whitworth runs spurred the win. Trailing 14-10 after a lay-in by L&C's Colin Oriard, the Pirates went on an 11-2 run to take a 21-16 lead on a jumper in the key by Scott Bierlink. The lead remained five points (25-20) as the teams went to the locker rooms. The Pioneers made only 35% (7-20) of their shots in the first half to 40% (10-25) for Whitworth. But the Pirates were only 1-11 (9.1%) from three point range.

Lewis & Clark outscored Whitworth 16-5 to open the second half keyed by six points from Oriard and back to back three-pointers by Matt Stanley. Down by six (36-30), the Pirates fought back to tie the game 39-39 on a lay-in by Kyle Jensen. Chase Williams followed with a three-pointer and the Pirates never trailed again. The final margin was the largest as Whitworth outscored L&C 5-0 in the final minute of the game.

Bryan Depew led all scorers with 16 points and he added seven rebounds. Williams finished with 14 points while Bierlink added 13. Jensen contributed a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Whitworth finished with a 38.2% (21-55) shooting percentage.

Kristopher Speier led the Pioneers with 13 points, while Oriard totaled 10 points and nine rebounds. Lewis & Clark shot 40.4% (19-47) from the field.

The Pirates gained an edge at the free throw line, making 14-19 attempts. Lewis & Clark made only six of 11 free throws.

Lewis & Clark concludes its regular season tomorrow night at Whitman College and will then play the first round of the NWC tournament at Willamette on Thursday night the 27th of February. The winner of that game will play at Whitworth on Saturday, March 1st in the NWC tournament championship at 8:00 p.m., following the Whitworth women's NWC championship game.

Willamette 59, at George Fox 52

Newberg, Ore. -- Gordie James tied the Willamette University record for most coaching victories with 277 as his Bearcats rallied to defeat the George Fox University Bruins 59-52 in a Northwest Conference men’s basketball game Friday night at the Wheeler Sports Center.

James, last year’s NWC Coach of the Year, is now 277-158 in his 16th season with the Bearcats, equaling the total of wins for John Lewis, who was 277-239 in 20 years at Willamette.  It was not an easy victory, however, as the Bruins spent most of the game in front, though rarely by more than a few points.

George Fox never trailed in the first half, leading the whole way except for a 2-2 tie.  Bryan Wadlow’s jumper with 8:32 left in the half gave the Bruins their biggest lead at 24-15.  It was 28-25 George Fox at the break.

Kenny Macy hit a 3-pointer to start the second half for the Bruins, and the home team kept a slim lead for well over 12 minutes.  An Aaron Schmick trey gave the Bruins a 39-34 lead with 11:50 to play, but the Bearcats rallied with a 10-0 run, taking the lead for good at 40-39 on a David Force jumper with 7:39 left.  Macy hit another three to break a 5 1/2 minute scoring drought by the Bruins at 6:07 and cut the lead to 44-42, but the Bearcats hit a perfect 8-8 from the line in the final 4 minutes to remain just ahead of the upset-minded Bruins. 

Marques Johnson and Miles Sandgathe paced the Bearcats with 15 points each, Ryan Hepp scored 11 and had 4 assists, and Harold Sublett, Jr., posted a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.  A huge discrepancy in rebounds – Willamette had 43, including 13 offensive, to only 23 for George Fox – was a major factor in the Bearcats’ comeback.

Macy scored a career-high 18 points in his final game as a Bruin senior, while Mark Gayman and Schmick had 11 each.  Gayman was the Bruins’ top rebounder with 6, while Trevor Person had 8 assists. 

It was the Bruins’ best defensive effort of the season in terms of points allowed, their previous low being 68 in an 82-68 win at Multnomah Bible College.

George Fox finished the season at 7-18 overall and in 9th place in the conference at 1-15.  Willamette clinched a berth in the NWC Tournament next week and is now 17-6 overall and 11-4 in the league.  The Bearcats host the University of Puget Sound Saturday (Feb. 22) at 8:00 p.m.

At Pacific 73, Linfield 71

Forest Grove, Ore. -- Pacific held off a strong second half surge by visiting Linfield to win their final game of the season, 73-71, in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Pacific Athletic Center.

The Boxers (11-14, 8-8 NWC), who led by as much as 16 in the second half, saw Linfield (15-9, 8-7 NWC) climb back in and cut the lead to within two on Travis Jones' three-pointer with 17 seconds left.  The Wildcats immediately fouled, and Rahim Tufts missed both free throws. The Wildcats ran the length of the field, but three-point attempts by O.J. Gulley and Travis Jones both fell short.

Erin Gram led all scorers with 19 points on 7 of 13 shooting.  Paul Grock finished with a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds.  Tufts had 11, while Dan Lumpkin, in his final game, had 10.  Nick Kelsey, also in his final game as a Boxer, finished with seven points and four assists. Jones and Gulley each had 15 to pace Linfield.  Pacific outshot the Wildcats 47 percent to 40 percent and out-rebounded the Cats 46 to 42.

The Boxers started out with the hot hand, taking a seven point lead on a lay-in by Lumpkin five minutes into the contest.  A pair of Jones' three pointers put the Wildcats back in it, and a jumper by Gulley put Linfield up three with 12:20 remaining.  Pacific swung the momentum again, taking the lead at 28-27 on a pair of Joe Van Domelen free throws with 4:35 left.  That also started a 20-3 run that gave the Boxers a 38-30 lead at the break.

The Boxers kept the heat on and went on, as Grock's lay-in a 16-4 run to take their biggest lead of the game, 54-36, with 14:41 left to play.  The Boxers kept the Wildcats at bay for the next four minutes.  Nick Fusare's jumper with 10:40 ignited the Wildcats as they whittled down a 17-point Boxer lead over the remaining 10 minutes.  A Gulley three-pointer cut the lead to six with 5:39 left, and Larson's jumper at the 1:55 mark cut the lead to four.

Linfield's loss knocks the Wildcats out of playoff contention.  They will finish the regular season tomorrow night against Pacific Lutheran in McMinnville.

At Puget Sound 89, Pacific Lutheran 83

Tacoma, Wash. -- The Puget Sound men's basketball team has been tough at home and they finished the season with an exclamation point defeating the Lutes of Pacific Lutheran 89-83 in overtime Friday night.

The win avenged an earlier loss to the Lutes in Parkland as junior Matt Glynn led the Logger charge hitting 12 of his 25 points in the first half and getting the Loggers off to a 35-26 advantage at intermission.

The Loggers extended their lead to 13 points at 49-36 with 15:17 remaining but the Lutes pulled to within 3 points with just 2:10 remaining as Hazen Hyland hit a pair of free throws to make it 67-64.  Zach McVey connected on a free throw to give the Loggers a 4 point advantage with 1:29 remaining but Jonathan Anderson's three pointer at the 1:07 mark gave the Loggers a slim 68-67 lead.   Mario Mendoza added a pair of free throws with 43 seconds left and Drew Cardwell hit a pair for PLU at 26.2 to make it a 70-69 contest.  McVey was good on one of two free throws after a Mendoza strip of the ball from PLU and the Loggers held the 71-69 advantage with just 7.8 left on the clock.  Neil Mendez got the ball leftside of the lane learned over a pair of defenders and kissed the ball off the glass scoring the bucket with no time remaining on the clock to force overtime at 71-71.

Overtime belonged to the Loggers as they scored the first four points on jumpers by Chase Curtiss and Glynn.  The Loggers pushed the lead to 82-75 with 1:56 to go as the freshman McVey went up and over for a dunk.  The Lutes were forced to foul down the stretch and the Loggers went on for the final 89-83 advantage.

The Loggers finish 2002-03 at 10-2 at home and the large and loud UPS crowd appreciated the outstanding performance in the finale.  The Logger-Lute rivalry had the Memorial Fieldhouse crowd of 1200 rocking.

In addition to Glynn's 25 the Loggers boasted four other players in double figures.  Aubrey Shelton added 19 points, McVey 16, Curtiss 13 and Mendoza 10 points.  Both Shelton and Mendoza had double-double performances with 11 rebounds each.  Glynn added 6 assists to his work Friday night.

The Lutes had a pair of double-double standouts as well as Mendez had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Josh Davis scored 14 and pulled down 11 boards.  Anderson was the Lutes leading scorer with 21 points while Hyland added 11 points.  Both teams shot 40% from the floor and both struggled from beyond the arc with the Lutes hitting on just 7-25 (28%) and the Loggers just 5-26 (19%).

The Loggers improved to 12-12 on the year and 7-8 in NWC play while the Lutes fall to 10-14 overall and 7-8 in league.