SPOKANE, Wash. – It is not often that co-champions meet up in the semifinals of a conference basketball tournament, but that will happen on Thursday when Whitworth hosts Pacific Lutheran in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference playoffs at 7:00 pm in the Whitworth Fieldhouse. The game can be heard live in Spokane on KSBN 1230 am and on the internet at KSBN.net.
The winner of Thursday's game will play the winner of the other semifinal between Whitman and Linfield on Saturday night. The location of that contest will be determined by highest remaining seed.
Whitworth University requires the wearing of masks at all indoor events, regardless of vaccination status. Please plan accordingly. Fans unable to attend can check out the Whitworth men's basketball schedule for live links for the games.
Ticket Information: Prices for Thursday's game are as follows: Adults ($10), Seniors and Children up to 17 ($5). Whitworth and PLU students receive admission with valid student ID. Game tickets may be purchased online through the NWC Championships Hometown Tickets portal. Tickets are also available at the main entrance of the Whitworth Fieldhouse when the doors open at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday night.
The Pirates: Whitworth (20-4 overall, 13-3 NWC) earned a share of the 2022 Northwest Conference title and clinched a 16th straight 20-win season with home victories over George Fox and Lewis & Clark to end the NWC schedule last weekend.
The Pirates steadily pulled away in the second half for a 91-67 win over George Fox on Friday night in a game that officially eliminated the Bruins from NWC tournament contention. Whitworth got back to its consistent, efficient style of play, shooting 54% from the floor in each half to overcome some hot three-point shooting by GFU. JT McDermott posted a career-high 28 points, making 12 of 17 attempts from the floor. He added four rebounds and three assists. Jake Holtz came off the bench for 15 points and nine rebounds. Miguel Lopez had eight points and a team high 11 boards as Whitworth outrebounded the Bruins 46-25. Rowan Anderson dished six of the Pirates' 19 assists. Whitworth won both games this season and has won the last 17 games vs. George Fox.
The Pirates had to survive a stiff challenge from Lewis & Clark in the regular season finale to secure a share of the NWC crown. Whitworth led the entire second half and held on for a 90-87 victory. The Pirates made 61% of their field goals to offset another hot three-point shooting night by the opponent as the Pioneers went 11-24 from beyond the arc. Miguel Lopez scored 22 points, just missing his career high by one point, and grabbed seven rebounds. Jake Holtz hit his career high with 21 points on 9-12 shooting. JT McDermott added 15 points and Liam Fitzgerald finished with 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Jojo Anderson came off the bench for six assists. Whitworth won both matchups with L&C this season and has won the last 16 games in the series.
Three Way Tie: Whitworth, Pacific Lutheran and Linfield all shared the 2022 Northwest Conference men's basketball regular season championship with 13-3 records. All are considered co-champions and each will be awarded a trophy. It is the first three-way tie atop the NWC men's basketball standings since 1987, when Pacific, Willamette and Whitman shared the crown.
Tiebreakers determined seeding for the NWC tournament. The top tiebreaker is head-to-head and Linfield went 3-1 against Whitworth and PLU, splitting with the Pirates and sweeping the Lutes, to claim the #1 seed. Since Whitworth split with both, the Pirates are the #2 seed. PLU is #3 based on finishing 1-3 against the other two schools.
NWC Tournament Info: The Northwest Conference playoffs consist of a four-team tournament with semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 24. As the #2 seed, Whitworth hosts #3 Pacific Lutheran, while #4 Whitman travels to #1 Linfield. The championship game is on Saturday, February 26 at the home of the highest remaining seed. While the 2021-22 Northwest Conference championship was decided by regular season play, the 2022 NWC playoffs will determine the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Tickets for Thursday's game at Whitworth are $10 for adults and $5 for children (12 and under) and senior adults (60 and older). Students from both schools get in for free with a college I.D. Some reserved seats may still be available. Remaining seats are all general admission and are online. Click here for the link to purchase tickets.
NWC Tournament History: The 2022 NWC tournament is the 25th conference tournament since the NWC (then the NCIC) first began a league playoff in 1994. This will be Whitworth's 24th appearance, the most of any conference school. Heading into this week the Pirates are 28-10 all-time in the league playoffs. The Bucs have appeared in the championship game 18 times and have won 13 times, most recently in 2018. The league did not hold a tournament in 1999, 2004 and 2005. The only season the Bucs did not qualify is 2000.
This will be PLU's seventh appearance in the NWC tournament. They are 2-6 all-time in the league playoffs and looking for their first title.
The Opponents: Pacific Lutheran went 18-7 during the regular season and claimed a share of its first Northwest Conference championship since 1986. The Lutes clinched that accomplishment with last Tuesday's 80-48 win over cross-town rival Puget Sound. PLU had a chance for first place all to itself, but fell 72-64 at home to Linfield on Friday night. The Lutes have made great strides under fifth year head coach Chad Murray and are participating in their second straight NWC tournament. PLU does it with defense, leading the NWC in points allowed per game (67.3), opponent field goal percentage (39.5) and rebounding margin (+6.8). Seth Hall, a senior guard, is a strong NWC Player of the Year candidate after leading the league in scoring average (20.3 ppg) during the regular season. He adds 6.8 rebounds per contest. Senior wing Jordan Thomas does everything on the floor, averaging 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists and he leads the team in steals (48) and blocked shots (23).
Whitworth and PLU split the regular season matchups, each winning at home. The Pirates won the first match up 97-69 in Spokane on January 15th, outscoring the Lutes 53-31 in the second half and shooting 53.8% as a team. PLU turned the tides in Parkland on Feb. 11th, winning 64-48 after outscoring the Pirates 36-22 in the second half and holding Whitworth to season-lows for points and field goal percentage (33.3).
Taking Offense: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference in scoring average at 83.9 points per game, which ranks 27th in NCAA Division III. The Pirates are doing it with efficiency, making 51.5% of their field goals, which leads the NWC and ranks 3rd in NCAA DIII. JT McDermott leads the way, making 61.8% of his field goals, which is first in the conference and ranks 17th in NCAA DIII.
Share and Share Alike: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference (and ranks 30th in DIII) in assists per game in 2021-22, averaging 17.5. 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, ranking second in the NWC (and 45th in DIII) in Assist-Turnover ratio (1.31).
D3hoops.com Poll: The Pirates are now listed second among "others receiving votes" in today's (Feb. 21) D3hoops.com top 25 regular season poll.
Whitworth has appeared in the D3hoops.com top-25 poll 181 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.
Sweet 16: With its win over Lewis & Clark on Saturday, 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.
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 388-79 (.830), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 196 of its last 220 (.891).
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 18 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 108-28 (.794) away from home, 80-22 (.784) 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: The winner of Thursday's game will play the winner of the Whitman-Linfield game in the NWC tournament championship on Saturday Feb. 26.
