CLAREMONT, Calif. – Garrett Paxton and Liam Fitzgerald scored the points, while Rowan Anderson contributed the rebounds and assists to lead Whitworth to a 73-58 win over Pomona-Pitzer at the men's David Wells Classic on Saturday evening.
The 19th-ranked Pirates improved to 5-1 with a win over the Sagehens (4-2) in a matchup of teams that won their first classic games on Friday.
Pomona-Pitzer jumped out to an 8-0 lead and led for much of the first half as Whitworth was slow adjusting to the Sagehens' zone defense. Trailing 10-2 five minutes into the game, the Pirates outscored Pomona-Pitzer 16-8 over the next eight minutes, finally pulling into an 18-18 tie on Fitzgerald's three-pointer. Trailing 21-20, Whitworth closed the half on a 13-5 run to take a 33-26 lead at the break. Paxton began the spurt with a three-point play and added a three-pointer later for a 29-24 lead.
Miguel Lopez opened the second half with a three-pointer to give Whitworth a 36-26 lead. Trailing 41-31, the Sagehens used a 10-0 run to even the game. Matthew Eberle and Brendan Mora made three-pointers during that stretch. The Pirates focused defensively over the next eight minutes and retook control of the game by limiting Pomona-Pitzer to only five points while scoring 18 in that span. Jordan Lester and Paxton opened the run with back-to-back three-pointers. By the time Jake Holtz scored inside for Whitworth's largest lead (73-53), there was only 1:18 left in the game.
Paxton made 5-8 from three-point range and finished with 19 points. Fitzgerald went 4-8 from beyond the arc for 14 points and dished four assists. Lopez and JT McDermott each scored nine, as did Twenge off the bench. Meanwhile Anderson led the Bucs with seven rebounds and dished five assists. Jordan Lester also had five assists and Whitworth finished with 20 assists on 25 made baskets.
The Pirates made 45.5% (25-55) from the field, including a season-high 51.9% (14-27) from three-point range. Whitworth was 9-11 from the free throw line.
Mora scored 14 points and Eberle added 13 for the Sagehens. Pomona-Pitzer finished 21-54 (38.9%) from the field, 9-25 (36%) from beyond the arc.
Whitworth will return to action next Saturday with its Northwest Conference opener at Willamette.
