SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth University had five players in double figures to offset a 27-point effort by Schreiner's Alex Dehoyos in an 88-70 win over the visiting Mountaineers on Friday night.
The 13th-ranked Pirates improved to 9-1 heading into Christmas break. Whitworth will be back in action on December 30th at home against Wisconsin-River Falls.
Miguel Lopez scored the first eight points of the game, including a pair of three-pointers, to get the Bucs out to a 10-0 start. Schreiner (2-8) recovered quickly and took an 18-17 lead on a three-pointer by Dehoyos. Dylan Mackey followed with a jumper and the Mountaineers had their largest lead (20-17) of the game.
JT McDermott answered with a three-point play to tie the game, igniting a 9-0 run capped by a three-point play from Jake Holtz. Garrett Paxton's three-pointer, followed by Jojo Anderson's free throws, gave Whitworth its largest lead of the half (37-25). Schreiner pulled back within 37-31 thanks to a pair of Dehoyos jumpers, before the Bucs took a 39-31 lead at halftime.
After Whitworth opened the second half with two straight buckets, Schreiner trimmed the margin to 43-36 on another basket by Dehoyos. That's as close as the Mountaineers got the rest of the game. Whitworth used a quick 7-0, including Rowan Anderson's three-pointer, to go up 50-36. Rowan Anderson converted an old-fashioned three-point play to extend the lead to 61-44 with 12:29 to go. A Lopez put-back put the Pirates up 70-49 and Whitworth took its largest lead (77-54) on Liam Fitzgerald's layup with 6:35 to play.
Fitzgerald led the Bucs with 19 points and he blocked four shots. Lopez added 18 and dished five assists. Rowan Anderson scored 12, while Holtz and Jojo Anderson came off the bench for 11 and 10 points, respectively. Jordan Lester led Whitworth with seven rebounds and six assists. The Pirates made 53.8% (35-65) from the field and all five of their free throws. They dished 27 assists on the 35 made shots.
Dehoyos went 11 of 20 from the floor, including 3-5 from beyond the arc, for his 27 points. It is the most points by a Whitworth opposing player this season. No other Mountaineer reached double figures. Bronson Evans scored nine off the bench. Schreiner made only 40.6% (26-64) from the field and 55.6% (10-18) from the free throw line. Evans had seven rebounds to lead the visitors to a 37-34 edge on the boards.
Schreiner concludes its trip to the Northwest with a game at Whitman on Sunday.
