Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. – George Valle's 21 points led four Whitworth players in double figures, but the 21st ranked Pirates still had to hold off a determined upset effort from visiting Willamette before coming away with a 90-83 win on Saturday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The Pirates improved to 17-2 overall and 10-0 in the NWC with their 16th straight victory. The Bearcats dropped to 6-13, 4-6 but still remain in the hunt for the fourth and final NWC playoff spot.
Whitworth hit its first six shots from the field and jumped out to a quick 15-4 advantage. Taylor Farnsworth went 4-4 from the field during that early run. But the Pirates could not sustain the momentum and Willamette was able to get back into the game.
"Tonight we got off to a great start," said Whitworth head coach Matt Logie. "But we seemed to relax a little and lacked the edge and killer instinct we need to have. Fortunately we were able to hang on."
Willamette never led and the game was never tied, but the Bearcats used a 13-3 run to pull within 18-17 on a jumper by Brendan McCullough. Whitworth seemed to regroup and extended the lead back to as many as 16 points at 40-24 on Matt Staudacher's three-pointer and a layup by Adam Wilks. But Nico Troplent answered with a three-pointer, helping the Bearcats finish the half on an 11-5 spurt and get within 45-35 at the break.
Whitworth's lead hovered between eight and 13 points through most of the second half. When Derek Isaak hit his third three-pointer of the period to put the Pirates up 75-63 it looked like they might be putting the game away. But Willamette fought back to within 79-73 with just under five minutes to play and Whitworth had to work hard to hold off the Bearcats down the stretch. Wilks scored again with just under a minute to play, giving the Bucs an 89-79 lead. Willamette did get back within six points with 19 seconds left after four free throws, but their last shot attempt was rebounded by Whitworth and Wilks made one of two from the charity stripe for the final margin.
Valle finished with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the season against Willamette. Farnsworth added 16 points and seven boards as Whitworth finished with a 39-30 edge in rebounding. Christian Jurlina and Kenny Love each scored a dozen and Love led the Pirates with five assists. Whitworth made 51% (31-61) of its shots from the floor.
Brandon Luedtke posted game-highs of 22 points and 11 rebounds for his own double-double. Bridger Harlington added 19 points and Kyle McNally finished with 11. McCullough dished a game-high six assists to go with his eight points. Willamette hit 45.5% (25-55) from the floor.
Whitworth holds a two-game lead over Whitman (14-5, 8-2 NWC) in the conference standings and those two squads will meet in Walla Walla on Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m.
