Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. – Four players reached double figures in scoring to lead 16th-ranked Whitworth to an 89-64 win over visiting Willamette in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference men's basketball tournament on Thursday night.
The top-seeded Pirates (23-3) advance to play third-seeded Lewis & Clark (16-10) in Saturday's tournament championship game. The Pioneers advanced with an 84-73 upset at second-seeded Whitman on Thursday night.
Whitworth is aiming for its ninth straight trip to the NCAA Division III tournament. The Bucs have now reached 12 consecutive NWC tournament championship games.
"I thought our guys were ready for the challenge," said Pirate head coach Matt Logie. "We did a nice job of executing on defense and sharing the basketball. We're very excited to have an opportunity to play on Saturday."
The fourth-seeded Bearcats came out loose and firing in the opening minutes, taking an early lead. Brandon Luedtke scored inside to stake Willamette to a 12-7 advantage five minutes into the game. But Whitworth answered with a 7-2 run, including two baskets by Adam Wilks, to tie the game 14-14. Kenny Love drained a three-pointer to put the Pirates ahead 19-18 and Derek Isaak followed with a layup. Whitworth would never trail again, stretching the advantage to as many as 16 points in the first half before taking a 43-29 lead into the locker rooms.
The Pirates shot nearly 58% in the first half and held Willamette to 40.7%, including 0-8 from three-point range.
Whitworth went ahead 52-35 on Kenny Love's breakaway dunk early in the second half. But the Bearcats fought back and got within 66-56 after a pair of free throws by Brendon McCullough with 7:43 to play. But the Pirates then used a 16-2 run to put the game away.
George Valle led Whitworth with 17 points, while Christian Jurlina turned in 16 points, five rebounds and five steals. Wilks totaled 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds off of the bench and Love finished with 12 points, eight assists and seven boards. Whitworth ended the game making 51.5% (34-66) from the field, including 54% (7-13) from beyond the arc. The Pirates gained a 39-32 advantage in rebounding.
Kyle McNally scored a game-high 18 points for the Bearcats and also led all players with 10 rebounds. His point total was a career-high. Luedtke and McCullough each scored a dozen points. Willamette finished the game making 39.6% (21-53) from the floor, including 15.8% (3-19) from three-point range. The Bearcats also committed 20 turnovers.
Whitworth swept a pair of regular season meetings against Lewis & Clark this season, winning 62-47 in Portland and 68-60 in Spokane in a game that went to overtime.
