Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. – Trailing 51-50 with eight minutes to play, Whitworth outscored visiting Lewis & Clark 19-7 the rest of the way to win the Northwest Conference men's basketball tournament 69-58 on Saturday night.
The 16th-ranked Pirates (24-3) claimed their ninth consecutive NWC tournament crown, and with it, the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Northwest Conference Player of the Year Kenny Love scored 20 points and George Valle added 19 to lead Whitworth to the win. Jason Luhnow had 14 points to lead the Pioneers (16-11), who came into the NWC tournament as the #3 seed before upsetting Whitman in the semifinals on Thursday to make their first conference championship game since 2002.
But the final minutes were dominated by the defensive play of senior posts Taylor Farnsworth and Adam Wilks who combined for seven of the Pirates' ten blocked shots. Six of those came in the final five minutes of the game.
"The story tonight was the way our senior post players protected the rim down the stretch," said Whitworth head coach Matt Logie. "It was a big senior moment for those two and I'm proud of what they have meant to our program."
The first half was tightly played with five ties and five lead changes. Jonathan Boddie's basket for L&C tied the game 20-20 before Whitworth scored six straight for its largest lead of the opening period. Bradley Carter pulled the Pioneers within 28-26 with a long jumper, but Love let the rest of the half run down before nailing a three-pointer right before the buzzer to give Whitworth a 31-26 lead at the break.
Whitworth shot 56% (15-27) in the opening half, while Lewis & Clark made 44% (12-27).
Love's second three-pointer of the game gave the Pirates a 42-34 lead, the largest of the game, just over seven minutes into the second half. But Lewis & Clark then went on its best offensive stretch of the contest, getting three three-pointers from Luhnow, to charge into the lead. His third three gave L&C its 51-50 lead with just over eight minutes to play.
Whitworth got a quick transition basket from Matt Staudacher and a minute later a big tip-in from Adam Wilks. After another stop Christian Jurlina made a pair of free throws to cap the 6-0 run and Whitworth was up 56-51.
"I'm not sure that it even registered with our guys that we had fallen behind," Logie said. "Matt's quick basket was big and we were able to make key plays down the stretch."
But the Pioneers weren't quite done. Luhnow hit his fourth three-pointer of the half to cut the margin back to 56-55 with 4:29 to play. As they did all night, the Pirates answered right back. Valle hit a tough shot in the key and Staudacher make another driving basket. Then Valle hit his only three of the game with 3:07 to go and Whitworth's lead was up to 63-55. Love's runner with 1:19 to play essentially sealed the win.
Both teams found it harder to make baskets in the second half. The Pirates' shooting fell to 42% and the Pioneers dropped to 39%. Lewis & Clark finished the game with a 39-30 edge in rebounding, but Whitworth forced 16 L&C turnovers while committing only six – none in the second half.
Love and Valle were each 8-14 from the field. Jurlina finished with 10 points and Farnsworth grabbed a team-high eight boards.
Luhnow was the only Pioneer player in double figures. Cannan Roberson came off of the bench for nine points, while Carter led all players with ten rebounds.
Whitworth will be making its tenth overall appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament. That field will be announced on Monday morning at 9:30 am (Pacific time).
