SPOKANE, Wash. –Whitworth University will conclude a six-games-in-nine-days stretch with Northwest Conference men's basketball contests at Lewis & Clark College (Friday, 8:00 pm) and George Fox University (Saturday, 6:00 pm) this weekend. The Pirates will play their first true road games in more than a month. Both games can be heard live in Spokane on KSBN 1230 am and on the internet at KSBN.net.
Lewis & Clark requires proof of vaccination and wearing of masks to attend any indoor athletic event, while George Fox requires masks, regardless of vaccination status. Please plan accordingly. Fans unable to attend can find live links on the Whitworth men's basketball schedule.
The Pirates: Whitworth (13-2), ranked 18th in the most recent D3hoops.com poll, defeated visiting Linfield and Pacific (Ore.) on Tuesday and Wednesday in games that were originally scheduled for Jan. 7-8.
Playing its best overall game of the season to this point, Whitworth rolled past Linfield 90-43 on Tuesday night. The Pirates already lead by 21 points (49-28) at halftime when they outscored the Wildcats 30-2 over the first 13 minutes of the second half to open up a nearly 50-point lead. Whitworth made 56% (37-66) of its shots from the field and outrebounded Linfield 45-28. The Bucs dominated inside, outscoring the Wildcats 46-18 in the paint. Jojo Anderson scored a career-high 19 points on his birthday, while JT McDermott and Miguel Lopez scored 12 points each. McDermott led the team with eight rebounds. Eleven different Pirates scored points in the game.
Whitworth got off to a slow start against Pacific on Wednesday night, falling behind 23-10 eight minutes into the first half. The Pirates were able to cut the margin to 50-46 at halftime. Whitworth found its defensive groove after halftime, outscoring the Boxers 42-22 in the second half. The Pirates had their fourth straight good shooting night, making 56% (32-57) from the field. After Pacific finished with a 16-12 edge in rebounds in the first half, Whitworth outrebounded the Boxers 24-9 in the second. Jake Holtz came off the bench to help the Pirates stay in the game with 12 first half points and he finished with 15, to share team-high honors with McDermott. Liam Fitzgerald added 14 points and three blocks and Rowan Anderson finished with ten points. Lopez led Whitworth with ten rebounds.
Share and Share Alike: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference (and ranks 12th in all of DIII) in assists per game in 2021-22, averaging 18.9 per game. In the season opener the Pirates set a team record for assists in a single game (47) in a win over Greenville. The Pirates not only pass well, they take care of the ball, leading the NWC (and ranking 16th in DIII) in Assist-Turnover ratio (1.44).
Taking Offense: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference in scoring average at 86.3 points per game, which ranks 24th in NCAA Division III. The Pirates are doing it with efficiency, making 51.2% of their field goals, which leads the NWC and ranks 5th in NCAA DIII.
Finding Balance: Whitworth had very balanced scoring in 2020-21. In 17 games, the Pirates had four players average between 11.2 and 12.6 points per game, and all are back this season. That trend has continued in 2021-22. Five Whitworth regulars are averaging between 9.4 and 12.9 points per game. JT McDermott leads (12.9 ppg), followed by Liam Fitzgerald (11.3), Garrett Paxton (11.3), Miguel Lopez (11.1), and Rowan Anderson (9.4). All five players have led the team in scoring in a game this season.
The Opponents: Lewis & Clark went 6-2 against non-conference opponents, including one of the best non-conference wins of the season for the NWC, but the Pioneers are still searching for their first league victory at 0-6. L&C defeated traditional DIII power College of Wooster 72-67 on a neutral floor in California on December 19th to close out its non-conference slate. League play has been harder-going, as the Pioneers fell 83-75 at Pacific last Friday and 82-78 at Willamette on Saturday. Junior wing Jack Henderson averages 15.3 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game. Junior guard Brenden Patrick adds 15.1 points per contest. Whitworth has not played L&C since the 2019-20 season and the Pirates swept the Pioneers, winning 86-60 at home and 73-66 on the road. The Pirates have won the last 14 games in the series.
George Fox University is 8-6 overall and 3-2 in the NWC, heading into its game on Friday against Whitman. The Bruins split last weekend, winning 100-91 at Willamette on Friday night before falling 76-71 at home to Linfield on Saturday. Senior guard Zac Schmerber has been deadly from three-point range this season, making 52.5% of his attempts and leading the team in scoring (13.4 ppg). Senior wing Kalo Stricklin adds 9.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. George Fox was the only NWC school from Oregon the Pirates played last season. Whitworth was at the end of its schedule and GFU was at the beginning, which showed in the scores as the Pirates won twice in Spokane 86-51 and 98-45. In 2019-20, Whitworth won 92-90 on the road and 83-76 at home. The Pirates have won the last 15 games in the series.
D3hoops.com Poll: The Pirates are ranked 18th in this week's (Jan. 17) D3hoops.com top 25 regular season poll.
Whitworth has appeared in the D3hoops.com top-25 poll 178 times since it was created during the 1999-00 season. Very few teams have appeared in the rankings more than Whitworth has. Heading into 2021-22, the Pirates were eighth on the list among schools ranked in the top-25 the most times.
1. Wooster 249
2. UW-Stevens Point 240
3. Amherst 234
4. Washington U. 203
5. St. Thomas 199
6. UW-Whitewater 194
7. Augustana 185
8. Whitworth 172
9. Williams 171
10. Illinois Wesleyan 164
Over the poll's 20-year history, 32 programs have reached the top spot at least once. UW-Stevens Point has reached that spot in seven different seasons. Whitworth has been there in two seasons: 2010-11 and 2015-16.
20=15: With its win at Whitman on February 20, 2020, Whitworth extended its school record for consecutive seasons with at least 20 victories to 15 in a row. Prior to this current streak, the most 20-win seasons in a row the Pirates had ever had was two (on three different occasions). The NCAA statistics office is granting waivers for streak records that were interrupted by Covid-19 in 2020-21.
Only Wooster (Ohio), with 24, has a longer run of consecutive 20-win seasons in NCAA Division III men's basketball.
Best of the Decade: Whitworth University concluded the decade of 2010-11 through 2019-20 as the winningest program in NCAA Division III men's basketball, by winning percentage. The Pirates posted a record of 245-43 for a winning percentage of .851. In addition, Whitworth's winning percentage ranked fourth among the top schools in all of NCAA basketball, behind West Liberty (Div. II - .895), Lincoln Memorial (Div. II - .874) and Gonzaga (Div. I - .858). Two of the winningest men's basketball teams in the nation are located within six miles of each other.
The decade included three head coaches for the Pirates, beginning with Jim Hayford in 2010-11, continuing with Matt Logie for eight seasons and concluding with Damion Jablonski in 2019-20.
More Than A Decade of Dominance: Since the beginning of the 2005-06 season (over 15 seasons) the Pirates are 381-77 (.832), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 189 of its last 211 (.895).
Home-Sweet-Home: Whitworth has been stellar in the Whitworth Fieldhouse since the 1990's. During the decade of the 1990s and 2000's Whitworth won more than 84% of its home games. However, since the beginning of the 2005-06 season, the Bucs are 197-21 (.904) at home. Whitworth has won its last 15 games at home.
The Pirates have had two home-court winning streaks of more than 40 games since 1990. A 41-game home court winning streak from early 2009 until December of 2011 was the second-longest in Pirate history. The school record for consecutive home victories is 43, beginning during the 1994-95 season and ending during the 1997-98 season.
Road Warriors: As good as Whitworth is at home, the Pirates have been almost as good away from the Whitworth Fieldhouse over the last decade. Since the start of the 11-12 season, Whitworth is 106-26 (.803) away from home, 78-20 (.796) in true road games.
On the Air Again: Whitworth's men's basketball games are once again carried live this season on KSBN 1230am in Spokane. The relationship between Pirate athletics and KSBN goes back to 1994, a span of more than 25 years. Bud Nameck is in his seventh season as the voice of Whitworth basketball. Nameck has more than 30 years of experience calling college basketball at Gonzaga University and Washington State.
The Coach: Damion Jablonski is in his 11th season on the Pirate coaching staff in 2020-21, and his third as head coach of the Pirates. He is currently 37-11 as Whitworth's head coach. His first year was a rousing success. He went 23-6, led the Pirates to a share of the Northwest Conference championship and to a pair of victories in the NCAA Division III tournament. The Bucs were slated to face top-ranked Swarthmore before the tournament was cancelled. Jablonski was named D3hoops.com West Region Coach of the Year and he coached Ben College to NWC Player of the Year and NABC All-America recognition. Whitworth went 12-5 during the COVID-19 season in 2020-21, including games against NCAA DI Montana, NCAA DII Seattle Pacific and NAIA playoff regular College of Idaho.
Jablonski spent eight years as the top assistant at Whitworth, including six seasons with the title of Associate Head Coach. Over the course of his tenure as an assistant, the Bucs won 215 games, seven Northwest Conference titles and seven NWC tournament crowns. As the head recruiting coordinator, Jablonski was instrumental in continuing the Bucs' tradition of success by helping to recruit high quality student-athletes to Whitworth. His efforts over the past several years have included the addition of First Team All-American Kyle Roach, third team All-American and NWC Player of the Year Kenny Love and First Team All Northwest Conference selection Christian Jurlina.
Coming Up Next: Whitworth host Willamette on Jan. 28 in its only scheduled game next week.
