SALEM, Ore. – Garrett Paxton scored 22 points, while Miguel Lopez posted his second double-double of the season to lead visiting Whitworth to a 94-81 win over Willamette in a Northwest Conference men's basketball contest on Saturday night at Cone Field House.
The 16th-ranked Pirates (6-1 overall, 1-0 NWC) opened an 18-point halftime lead before the Bearcats (2-5, 0-2) pulled within four twice in the second half.
Paxton's point total was a career-high, surpassing the 20 points he scored two seasons ago in a win at Willamette. Lopez posted 16 points and 14 rebounds, a career high for boards and his second double-double of the season.
The Bearcats hung with the Pirates for much of the first half, staying within 24-21 on Cedric Coward's layup. Paxton followed with a three-pointer and Whitworth began to pull away. A pair of Rowan Anderson free throws gave the Bucs their first double-digit lead (33-23) and Liam Fitzgerald's made it 42-29 with with two minutes left. Leading 42-31, Whitworth closed on an 8-1 run, going up 50-32 at halftime on Fitzgerald's dunk.
Daniel Plummer, who didn't score in the first half, made a jumper to pull Willamette within 60-50 five minutes into the second half. Coward's dunk got the Bearcats within 64-57 four minutes later. The Pirates appeared to retake control with ten straight points, capped by Jerry Twenge's three-pointer with eight minutes to play. Willamette fought back again, getting within 81-77 on Plummer's layup with 3:12 on the clock. Whitworth's defense stiffened, allowing the hosts only four points the rest of the way. Lopez's free throws increased the margin to 88-79 with just under a minute to play to essentially secure the win.
Paxton made 9 of 11 from the field, 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. Fitzgerald added 18 points, followed by Lopez with 16. Jordan Lester dished 11 assists, grabbed nine rebounds and scored nine points. Whitworth made only 43.4% from the field, but made up for it by dominating the boards (50-35). The Pirates made 40% (8-20) of their three-pointers and 77% (20-26) of their free throws.
Coward filled the stat sheet with 23 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks and four assists for Willamette. Jonathan Watts scored 18, while Plummer scored all 14 of his points off the bench in the second half. The Bearcats were 33-69 (47.8%) from the field, 9-25 (36%) from three-point range.
Whitworth returns home to host Whitman College on Tuesday night in another NWC contest that will be televised in the region by SWX.
