SPOKANE, Wash. – Bouncing back from a poor start, 18th-ranked Whitworth defeated visiting Pacific (Ore.) 88-72 on Wednesday night in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game.
The Pirates (13-2 overall, 6-1 NWC) trailed 23-10 early in the game, but outscored the Boxers (5-10, 1-5) 42-22 in the second half. Whitworth won its 15th straight home game and earned its first win this year when trailing at the half.
After the Pirates scored the opening basket, Pacific went on a 12-3 run, going up 12-5 on Jay Bolger's layup. The Boxers stretched the margin to 18-8 on Mario Mora's jumper and took their largest lead (23-10) when Jared Cattell connected from three-point range just over eight minutes into the game. Whitworth got back within 27-26 on a pair of Rowan Anderson free throws, but Pacific kept the Pirates at-bay and did not give up the lead in the first half. The Boxers led 50-46 at the break, only the third time this season Whitworth has trailed at halftime. Pacific made 55.6% (20-36) from the field in the half, including 9-17 (52.9%) from three-point range, one night after going 1-19 from beyond the arc in a loss at Whitman. Jake Holtz helped keep the Bucs in the game with 12 first half points.
The Pirates finally took their first lead since 2-0 when Liam Fitzgerald converted a three-point play to put the Pirates up 57-56. That sparked a 13-2 Whitworth run, which included Rowan Anderson's three-pointer and Garrett Paxton's three-point play that stretched the margin to 67-58. After the Boxers got back within 71-66 on Cattell's bucket, Jojo Anderson hit a jumper for Whitworth with 9:15 left. Neither team scored again until Jojo Anderson drained another jumper with 5:35 to go for a nine-point Pirate lead. The Whitworth defense continued to buckle down and Pacific didn't make another basket until Bolger scored with 1:53 to play, but his team trailed 82-69 at that point. Whitworth made 55.2% (16-29) from the field in the second half and held the Boxers to only 37% (10-27) after halftime. The Pirates outrebounded the visitors 24-9 in the second half.
Holtz and JT McDermott scored 15 points each to lead Whitworth, while Fitzgerald added 14. Rowan Anderson scored ten and Miguel Lopez led the Bucs with 10 rebounds. The Pirates finished the game 32-57 from the field (56.1%), their fourth straight game above 50%. They had a 36-25 edge on the glass.
Cattell led Pacific with 19 points off the bench. Bolger finished with 17 and Mora had 16. The trio combined for 52 of the Boxers' 72 points. Pacific finished 30-63 from the floor (47.6%).
Whitworth hits the road for a pair of conference games this weekend at Lewis & Clark (Friday) and George Fox (Saturday) to complete the first half of its NWC schedule.
