SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth men's basketball team will take on Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound at home this weekend to open the second round of the Northwest Conference schedule. Friday's game vs. PLU is scheduled for 8:00 pm, while Saturday's game vs. UPS is scheduled for 6:00 pm. Both can be heard on KSBN 1230 am as the second half of a women's-men's doubleheader.
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.
Alumni Night: All Whitworth alumni and family are invited to Friday's doubleheader vs. PLU. Admission is free for Pirate alums. Follow the link for more info about Alumni Night, including how to get tickets.
The Pirates: Whitworth (11-6 overall, 6-2 NWC) dropped into second place in the Northwest Conference standings after a split of last weekend's road trip to Oregon.
Whitworth dominated both ends of the floor in a 104-64 win at Willamette on Friday night. The Pirates made 57.5% of their field goals, including 40% from three-point range, held the Bearcats to 36% from the field and won the rebounding battle 48-31. Whitworth's bench was on display, scoring 64 points in the game, including a game-high 17 from Jake Holtz. Fourteen different players scored points for Whitworth. Holtz also led the Bucs with seven rebounds. JT McDermott and Rowan Anderson dished five assists apiece.
Whitworth lost 86-79 at Linfield as the Wildcats posted their best game of the season. Linfield shot nearly 60% in the first half to open a 46-30 lead and led 63-40 with 15 minutes to play before the Pirates fought back to within 81-78 in the final minute. Linfield ended the game 11 of 23 (48%) from three-point range. Anderson and Michael Smith scored 20 points each to lead the Pirates. Anderson scored 16 of his in the first half and Smith had 18 in the second half. Sullivan Menard came off the bench for a dozen points.
The Opponents: Pacific Lutheran is 9-8 overall and 3-5 in the NWC. The Lutes have won three of their last four conference games, including victories last week at Puget Sound (81-80) and over Pacific (Ore.) 90-76. Head coach Chad Murray is in his sixth season at PLU. Junior forward Brandin Riedel, the current NWC men's basketball student-athlete of the week for his performances in this week's wins, averages 14.0 points while making an NWC-leading 60% from the field and adds 5.8 rebounds per game. Junior guard Jackson Reisner scores 12.4 points per game and makes 37% of his three-pointers. He leads the team in makes and attempts from beyond the arc. Whitworth defeated PLU 81-80 in overtime on December 3rd in Parkland after Diego Jaques made a free throw with 1.4 seconds left. Jake Holtz scored a career-high 22 points in the come-from-behind victory.
Puget Sound is 12-5 overall and 5-3 in the NWC heading into Friday's game at first place Whitman. The Loggers are alone in third place in the NWC standings after falling at home to PLU last Tuesday but defeating Lewis & Clark 100-86 on Friday. Logger alum Aubrey Shelton is in his fifth season as head coach. Sophomore guard Liam Ruttledge scores 14.6 points per game and makes 41% of his three-pointers. Senior forward Mussie Teclemarium adds 13.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Whitworth lost to Puget Sound 82-75 in Tacoma on December 2nd, allowing the Loggers to break an eight-game losing skid to the Bucs. Michael Smith scored his season-high of 22 points for the Pirates.
JT Mc "Does" it: JT McDermott (Gr.) was Whitworth's top scorer the last season and currently leads the team in scoring average (14.1 points per game) this year. The starting post also leads the team in assists (52, 3.1 apg), blocks (12) and steals (25).
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 12.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
No Holtz Barred: Jake Holtz is second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg). Holtz is making 58.6% of his field goals (third in the NWC).
The Point Man: Rowan Anderson is in his third season as Whitworth's starting point guard. He averages 9.4 points per game and is tied for the team lead in assists (52, 3.1 apg).
Jerry, As Needed: Jerry Twenge averages 10.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He now ranks third in the NWC in rebounding average. Twenge has stepped up in a variety of ways this season. Twenge has led the Pirates in scoring (25 vs. UMHB), rebounding (14 vs. George Fox), assists (twice, including 5 vs. CLU) and steals (twice, including 4 vs. PLU). He leads the team in three-point percentage (42%) and in free throw percentage (84.4%).
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.
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 401-86 (.823), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 204 of its last 230 (.887).
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 206-22 (.903) 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 112-34 (.767) away from home, 84-25 (.771) 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 Oregon on Feb. 3-4 for games at Pacific (Ore.) and Lewis & Clark.
