CLAREMONT, Calif. – Visiting Whitworth built a 16-point halftime lead and cruised to a 71-53 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Friday night in the David Wells Classic men's tournament.
The 19th-ranked Pirates (4-1) will take on Pomona-Pitzer (4-1) on Saturday in a matchup of teams that won their first game in the classic.
The Stags (2-1) led 4-2 in the game's first two minutes before Whitworth used a quick 6-0 run to take a lead the Pirates would never relinquish. Jordan Lester's layup increased the lead to 12-6 and Whitworth took its first double-digit advantage (22-11) on JT McDermott's layup midway through the first period. McDermott and Liam Fitzgerald hit back-to-back three-pointers to stretch the margin to 30-15 and the lead reached 45-26 in the final minute before CMS got within 45-29 on a three-point play by TJ Askew.
The Stags outscored the Pirates 11-2 to open the second half, getting within 47-37 on Askew's layup. Whitworth answered with a 7-0 run, capped by Jerry Twenge's three-pointer. The Pirates stretched the lead back to 19 twice before CMS pulled within 60-46 with 7:53 to play. That's as close as the Stags would get. Fitzgerald answered with another three and McDermott scored inside. Whitworth took its largest lead (68-48) on McDermott's trey with 5:55 to play.
McDermott scored a career-high 18 points, while Twenge added 14 off the bench. Twenge was 4-7 from three-point range. Fitzgerald and Lopez scored a dozen points apiece and Lester finished with 11 points and seven assists. Fitzgerald had eight rebounds as Whitworth finished with a 37-30 rebounding advantage.
After making nearly 63% in the first half, the Pirates cooled off in the second period and finished with a 48.4% (31-64) field goal percentage. Whitworth won despite getting to the free throw line only three times and finishing 1-3.
Askew led CMS with 15 points. The Stags will take on Linfield on Saturday night.
