SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University men's basketball team will play its final regularly-scheduled non-conference game of 2022-23 on Saturday (New Year's Eve day) when the Pirates host the Muhlenberg College Mules at 2:00 pm.  The game can be heard live in Spokane on KSBN 1230 am and on the internet at KSBN.net.

Check the Whitworth men's basketball schedule for other live links to this weekend's games.

Tickets:  Digital tickets are required for entrance to the Whitworth Fieldhouse for all fans.  Tickets can be purchased in advance using the Hometown Ticketing App.  Follow the Tickets link on the schedule for access.  Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for senior adults, non-Whitworth students and children.  Whitworth students, as well as faculty and staff, get free admission by using an ID number.

The Pirates:  Whitworth (5-5 overall, 1-1 NWC) split two games last week in its own Quality Inn Oakwood Classic. 

The Pirates posted their largest comeback victory of the season on Tuesday night to defeat defending Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference champion Saint John's 65-56.  The Johnnies led the game for the first 34 minutes and the Pirates rallied from as many as 14 points behind in the second half.  JT McDermott scored a season-high 24 points to lead the way, while Jake Holtz came off the bench for 15 points and eight rebounds.  Michael Smith put in 13 points and had seven boards.  After shooting only 35% in the first half, Whitworth made 55% of its shots in the second period.

The game got away from the Pirates in the second half of Wednesday's 93-74 loss to defending American Southwest Conference champion Mary Hardin-Baylor.  The Crusaders' win ended Whitworth's 24-game home court winning streak.  The first 26 minutes of the game featured 12 ties and six lead changes. However, the Bucs finished with 20 turnovers, leading to 27 UMHB points.  Jerry Twenge finished with a career-high 25 points, making 7 of 11 attempts from three-point range.  No other Whitworth player reached double figures in scoring.  McDermott had nine points and four assists.

The Opponents:  Muhlenberg College is located in Allentown, Pa. and is a member of the NCAA Division III Centennial Conference.  The Mules come into Saturday's game 7-2 overall and 2-1 in the Centennial, following a 65-63 win at Whitman on Thursday that ended the Blues' seven-game winning streak.  Muhlenberg is a well-rounded team, but the bulk of the scoring comes from a pair of veteran guards.  Junior Giovanni Rubino leads the team in scoring at 17.2 points per game.  Graduate Dan Gaines puts up 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and a team-high 3.4 assists per contest.  Whitworth has never played Muhlenberg in men's basketball.  The Pirates' last game against a Centennial Conference school was a 76-74 win over Johns Hopkins in Las Vegas on Dec. 29, 2018.  Whitworth was scheduled to meet top-ranked Swarthmore in the NCAA DIII round of 16 in 2020 when the tournament was cancelled by COVID-19. 

Pirates picked to win:  Whitworth is listed at the top of the 2022-23 Northwest Conference coaches poll with seven first place votes and 63 points.  The Pirates are coming off a 22-5 record in 2021-22, including a share of the NWC regular season title (13-3).  Whitman, who Whitworth defeated in the NWC tournament championship game, is second in the poll with two first place votes and 56 points. 

JT Mc "Does" it:  JT McDermott (Gr.) has been Whitworth's top scorer the last two seasons and currently leads the team in scoring average (15.5 points per game).  The starting post also passes well (3.1 assists per game), leads the team in blocks (8) and is second on the team in steals (14).

McDermott was a first team All-Northwest Conference honoree in 2021-22 after he averaged 14.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: Michael Smith, a former high school teammate of McDermott, has transferred to Whitworth from Sonoma State (NCAA DII), where he started 47 games in two seasons.  Smith currently averages 12.5 points per game.

No Holtz Barred:  Jake Holtz currently is tied for the lead in the Northwest Conference in rebounding (7.2 rpg) through ten games this season.  He is averaging 13.3 points per game while making 57.7% of his field goals.

The Point Man:  Rowan Anderson is in his third season as Whitworth's starting point guard.  He averages 8.0 points per game and leads the team in assists (3.2 apg). 

Jerry, As Needed: Jerry Twenge, who averages 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, has stepped up in a variety of ways this season.  Twenge has led the Pirates in scoring (22 vs. Roanoke), rebounding (8 vs. Roanoke), assists (twice, including 5 vs. CLU) and steals (twice, including 4 vs. PLU).  He leads the team in three-point percentage (47.4%) and in free throw percentage (84.8).

Sweet 16:  With its win over Lewis & Clark in the 2021-22 regular season finale, Whitworth extended its school record for consecutive seasons with at least 20 victories to 16 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.

Whitworth's streak of 20-win seasons is the current longest in all of NCAA Division III.

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 16 seasons) the Pirates are 395-85 (.823), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level.  Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 199 of its last 224 (.888).

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 202-22 (.902) 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 110-33 (.769) away from home, 82-24 (.773) 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 eighth 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 12th season on the Pirate coaching staff in 2022-23, and his fourth as head coach of the Pirates.  His record was 58-16  as Whitworth's head coach heading into this season.  Jablonski has led Whitworth to the NCAA Division III tournament twice in his previous three years, the only non-tournament year was due to Covid-19.  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.  Whitworth finished 22-5 overall and 13-3 in the NWC in 2021-22 to once again share the regular season title before winning the conference tournament.

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 return to Northwest Conference play on January 6-7 when the Pirates host Lewis & Clark College and Pacific University in the Fieldhouse.