Jan. 11 NWC Men’s Basketball Wrap (Stories provided by host SID)

At Whitworth 77, Lewis & Clark 76

Spokane, Wash. -- Whitworth College demonstrated why it is the second ranked free throw shooting team in the nation, making 20 of 20 attempts from the line to defeat visiting Lewis & Clark College 77-76 in overtime on Friday night in the Northwest Conference opener for both schools.

The Pirates came back from a five point deficit in regulation with two minutes to play to force overtime. Danny Winchester, who led all players with 30 points, made a layin to give the Pioneers a 59-54 lead with 2:11 to play. But the Pirates finished on a 7-2 run to tie the game. Scott Bierlink made four straight free throws to cut the lead to 59-58 with :51 to play. Winchester scored again at :40 to extend the lead back to 61-58 before Whitworth's freshman point guard Bryan Williams connected on a game-tying three-pointer with 27 seconds to play to tie the game. L&C was unable to get off a shot before the end of regulation.

The teams traded leads to start overtime and L&C took a 66-65 lead on a pull-up three-pointer by Winchester with 1:52 to play. But Whitworth answered with back to back three-pointers by Williams and John Gebbers to open a 71-66 lead with 44 seconds to play. While Whitworth went 6/6 from the line in the final minute, L&C got two more threes from Winchester, a short jumper from Adam Merino and two free throws from John Mietus to pull within one point at the end.

Whitworth (8-2 overall, 1-0 NWC) got 19 points from both Bryan Depew and Bierlink, who scored all of his points after halftime. Williams added 15 points for the Pirates. Bierlink also led Whitworth with 14 rebounds.

In addition to Winchester's 30 points, L&C (7-3, 0-1) got 29 points and 16 rebounds from Mietus.

Both teams were off target in the first half when L&C led 23-22 at halftime. The Pioneers made 31% of their shots while holding Whitworth to only 27.6%. But both got hot in the second half, making over 50% from the field and three-point lines. Neither team led by more than five points in the back and forth contest.

This was the second time in three meetings that L&C and Whitworth have gone to overtime. The Pioneers pulled out a 78-76 win in Portland last year.

Whitworth will host Willamette on Monday night while L&C travels to Walla Walla to play Whitman. The games tonight and Monday were delayed 48 hours by bad weather that prevented L&C and Willamette from leaving the Portland area.

At Whitman 64, Willamette 63

Walla Walla, Wash. -- The Whitman men's basketball team pulled out a win Sunday night in Walla Walla, Wash., 64-63 over Willamette after trailing 36-29 at halftime in the conference opener for both squads. The Missionaries improved to 5-5 on the year, while Willamette fell to 5-5.

Sparked by sophomore Greg Ricker's 13 second-half points, the Missionaries took only their second lead of the game at 63-60 on a Ricker long ball and held on with a Casey Nelson free-throw. Ricker knocked down 11 of Whitman's final 17 points and finished with five rebounds and four assists. Nelson hit seven of nine shots on the night for 16 points, and grabbed five boards. The Missionaries' only other scorer in double figures was Jake Pounds, who came off the bench for 11 points. Sophomore Erik Kofler also came off the bench and finished with a team high seven rebounds.

Willamette's John Olinger hit nine of his 14 shots, including six of 10 from long range, for a game-high 24 points. Olinger was hot early, scoring 21 points in the first half. David Force also finished in double digits, hitting all four of his free throws and finishing with 14 points. Ryan Ralfs led the Bearcats rebounding, grabbing nine boards to go along with nine points.

The Bearcats jumped on top first in the game, taking advantage of early Whitman turnovers to take a 22-9 lead with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half. Trailing 27-14, Whitman ran off seven straight points that were capped by a Nelson jumper at 5:58. The Missionaries would get no closer in the half, and went into the break trailing 36-29. Whitman opened up the second period by scoring eight of the first 12 points, but remained behind until 7:08 remained. Ricker knocked down a jumper to tie the score, but Willamette responded with a long range shot for a three-point lead. The teams were again tied at 63-63 with just six seconds remaining. Ricker tipped a ball that was headed out of bounds to Nelson, who was fouled as he tried to lay it in. Nelson knocked down his first from the line and the Bearcats were unable to get a shot off as time ran out.

The Missionaries will continue their conference schedule on Monday as they host Lewis & Clark College at Sherwood Center.  Willamette travels to Whitworth on Monday for its next contest.