SPOKANE, Wash. – Coming off a light week of competition, the Whitworth men's basketball team hits the road for crucial games at Linfield University on Friday (8:00 pm) and Pacific University on Saturday (6:00 pm). Both games can be heard live in Spokane on KSBN 1230 am and on the internet at KSBN.net.
Linfield and Pacific require all fans to show proof of vaccination and wear masks at all indoor athletic events. Please plan accordingly. Fans unable to attend can find live links on the Whitworth men's basketball schedule.
The Pirates: Whitworth (16-2), ranked 14th in today's D3hoops.com poll, defeated Willamette in its only game last week.
Five players reached double figures in scoring for the Pirates in a 102-89 win over visiting Willamette on Friday night. Whitworth built a 28-point lead in the first half and led by double figures throughout the game, but the pesky Bearcats continued to trim the margin. The Pirates kept up their offensive efficiency, shooting 62.7% (42-67) from the field, 52.2% (12-23) from three-point range. Garrett Paxton scored a career-high 26 points, making 6 of 10 from beyond the arc. Miguel Lopez also had a career-high with 23 points and added four assists and two blocked shots. JT McDermott scored 17, Jerry Twenge added 15 and Jake Holtz came off the bench for a dozen points. Rowan Anderson dished nine of the Pirates' 24 assists. Whitworth swept the season series against Willamette.
Taking Offense: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference in scoring average at 87.1 points per game, which ranks 16th in NCAA Division III. The Pirates are doing it with efficiency, making 52.7% of their field goals, which leads the NWC and ranks 2nd in NCAA DIII. JT McDermott leads the way, making 63.4% of his field goals, which leads the conference and ranks 15th in NCAA DIII.
Share and Share Alike: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference (and ranks 13th in DIII) in assists per game in 2021-22, averaging 18.6. 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 (1.42).
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. Four Whitworth regulars are averaging between 10.9 and 13.7 points per game. JT McDermott leads (13.7 ppg), followed by Garrett Paxton (12.0), Miguel Lopez (11.9), and Liam Fitzgerald (10.9). Meanwhile, Jake Holtz (8.8), Rowan Anderson (8.6), Jerry Twenge (7.7) and Jojo Anderson (7.2) are not far behind. Seven different players have led the team in scoring in a game this season.
The Opponents: Linfield University (13-5 overall, 8-2 NWC) has won four straight since it dropped both games of a mid-week trip to Eastern Washington two weeks ago. The Wildcats, picked as favorites in the 2021-22 NWC preseason coaches poll, won 71-68 at Lewis & Clark on Jan. 28 and defeated Puget Sound 74-68 at home on Jan. 29. Dempsey Roggenbuck (Gr., G) ranks second in the NWC in scoring average (19.8 ppg) and hit the game-winning three-pointer in the final second at L&C last Friday. Senior guard Max Lommen adds 14.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Whitworth defeated Linfield 90-43 in Spokane on January 18th in arguably the Pirates' best all-around game of the season. Jojo Anderson led the Bucs with 19 points on his 19th birthday and JT McDermott added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Pacific University is 7-12 overall and 3-7 in the NWC heading into a Friday night game against Whitman. The Boxers played some of their best basketball of the season last weekend, falling only 74-72 at second place Pacific Lutheran on Jan. 28 and defeating George Fox 73-68 at home on Jan. 29. Junior forward Jacob Bolger averages 14.6 points and 4.8 rebounds and makes nearly 56% of his field goals. Senior guard Mario Mora adds 12.7 ppg and makes nearly three (2.95) three-pointers per game to lead the NWC in that category. Whitworth defeated Pacific 88-72 at home on January 19, despite trailing by 12 points (20-8) midway through the first half. Jake Holtz and JT McDermott scored 15 points apiece to lead Whitworth, while Miguel Lopez grabbed ten rebounds.
D3hoops.com Poll: The Pirates are ranked 14th in this week's (Jan. 31) D3hoops.com top 25 regular season poll.
Whitworth has appeared in the D3hoops.com top-25 poll 180 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 384-77 (.833), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 192 of its last 214 (.897).
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 198-21 (.904) at home. Whitworth has won its last 16 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 108-26 (.805) away from home, 80-20 (.800) 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 will continue on the road with Northwest Conference games at Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound on Feb. 11-12.
