SPOKANE, Wash. – For the fifth straight time, Whitworth University and Whitman College will meet in the championship game of the Northwest Conference tournament. For the third straight time this match-up will be a rubber match after the teams split during the regular season. The NWC tournament final will take place Saturday night at 7:00 pm in the Whitworth Fieldhouse and the game can be heard live in Spokane on KSBN 1230 am and on the internet at KSBN.net.
The winner of Saturday's game will earn the NWC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. That field will be announce on NCAA.com on Monday morning at 9:30 am.
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 Saturday's game are as follows: Adults ($10), Seniors and Children up to 17 ($5). Whitworth and Whitman 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 Saturday night.
The Pirates: Whitworth (21-4 overall, 13-3 NWC) advanced to its 18th straight NWC tournament championship game thanks to an 80-72 NWC semifinal win over co-conference champion Pacific Lutheran on Thursday night.
The Pirates built a big first half lead and played strong enough defense in the second half to prevent a PLU comeback. Whitworth led by 15 late in the first half and took a 46-33 advantage to halftime after hitting 8-14 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes. The Bucs still led by 15 points nearly eight minutes into the second half before hitting an offensive dry spell. The Lutes closed to as close as five points with less than two minutes to go, before JT McDermott made a big shot. McDermott and Rowan Anderson combined to go 7-8 at the free throw line in the final 62 seconds to secure the victory. Garrett Paxton led Whitworth with 17 points, making 5-7 from three-point range. Miguel Lopez added 12 points and six rebounds. McDermott finished with 11 points and six assists. However, the difference in the game may have been bench production. Jojo Anderson, Jake Holtz and Jerry Twenge each scored eight points and the Pirate bench outscored the Lute bench 24-5. Whitworth won two of three against PLU during the 2021-22 season.
All-NWC Recognition: JT McDermott is a first team All-NWC honoree in 2022, while Miguel Lopez and Garrett Paxton are second team selections. McDermott led Whitworth in scoring (14.2 ppg) during the regular season and he led the conference in field goal percentage (61.8%). McDermott's conference-only numbers were even better, with averages of 15.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Lopez started all 24 games this season and he has started every game (40) since arriving on campus for the 2020-21 school year. He averaged 10.9 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game during the regular season. Paxton was Whitworth's most dangerous three-point shooter this season. He led the team in three-pointers made per game (2.0) and he finished the regular season 37.6% from beyond the arc. Paxton averaged 11.3 points per game.
NWC Tournament Info: The Northwest Conference playoffs consist of a four-team tournament with the semifinals held on Thursday, Feb. 24. 4th-seeded Whitman upset top-seeded Linfield in the other semifinal, allowing Whitworth to host the championship game on Saturday, February 26 as 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.
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. 2022 marks Whitworth's 24th appearance, the most of any conference school, and the Pirates are 29-10 all-time in the league playoffs. As of 2022 the Bucs have appeared in the championship game 19 times and have won 13 times, most recently in 2018. Whitworth is playing in its 18th straight NWC tournament final. The league did not hold a tournament in 1999, 2004 and 2005. The only season the Bucs did not qualify is 2000.
Whitman is making its 12th appearance in the NWC tournament and its 11th in a row. The Blues are in their fifth consecutive championship game, have won it three times and are 10-8 all-time in the NWC playoffs.
The Opponents: Fourth-seeded Whitman stunned top-seeded Linfield 82-79 on Thursday night when Nikola Trifunovic made a three-pointer with 16 seconds left and the game tied. Xzavier Lino led the Blues (12-13) with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Trifunovic finished with 17 points and seven assists. Whitman made 53.3% of its shots in the game, including 14-33 from three-point range.
The Blues secured the final NWC tournament spot with a 9-7 conference record. Whitman leads the conference in three-pointers made per game (10.3) and they make opponents pay at the free throw line, leading the NWC by a wide margin (76.8% - 10th in NCAA Div. III). Trifunovic (Jr., G) is a first team All-NWC selection this season. He averages 17.4 points per game and makes 45.7% of his three-point attempts. Lino (So., W) is an honorable mention All-NWC player who averages 14.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Walter Lum (Jr., G) contributes 10.3 points and 3.9 assists per game.
Whitworth and Whitman split the first two Battles of Whits. The Pirates won 82-71 in Spokane on December 7th thanks to 23 points from McDermott, his career-high at the time. The Blues won the second game 71-69 in Walla Walla on January 8th. Lum made two free throws with 16 seconds left and blocked the potential tying shot as time expired.
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.
Taking Offense: Whitworth is tied for the lead in the Northwest Conference in scoring average at 83.8 points per game, which ranks 29th in NCAA Division III. The Pirates are doing it with efficiency, making 51.4% of their field goals, which leads the NWC and ranks 3rd in NCAA DIII. JT McDermott leads the way, making 61.3% of his field goals, which is first in the conference and ranks 21st in NCAA DIII.
Share and Share Alike: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference (and ranks 29th 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 37th in DIII) in Assist-Turnover ratio (1.33).
D3hoops.com Poll: The Pirates are now listed second among "others receiving votes" in this week'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 389-79 (.831), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 197 of its last 221 (.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 198-21 (.904) at home. Whitworth has won its last 19 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 Saturday's game will earn the NWC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, which starts March 4th and 5th with the first and second rounds.
