SPOKANE, Wash – Jerry Twenge buried the game-winner with 1.4 seconds left, and Whitworth survived a furious Pacific comeback to win 67-65 on Saturday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
It was Twenge's first game-winner of his basketball career, and the senior was all smiles.
"It was pretty cool to just have that opportunity and be in that spot," said Twenge. "When the ball came to me with a few seconds left I knew I had to make something happen."
Whitworth called timeout with 12.9 seconds left, but the play drawn up in the huddle was foiled quickly.
"The first option actually was Holtz coming off a screen, but he wasn't open, so we just ended up having to do it another way," said Twenge. "The play just kind of worked out the way it did."
Pacific erased a 21-point second half deficit to tie the game 65-65 before Twenge's game-winner. The senior caught the ball in the post with five seconds remaining, backed down his defender, and delivered a turnaround hook through contact to give Whitworth its 12th straight win over the Boxers. Twenge had 11 points on the night.
Whitworth (5-1 overall, 2-0 NWC) was playing without its top scorer in JoJo Anderson who is averaging 19.2 points per game this season.
"We definitely missed JoJo a lot tonight, had to learn how to create some offense without him but our defense was big time, and we hung our hats on that tonight," said Twenge. "Coach always says we'd rather learn lessons in a win than in a loss."
The Pirates shot an efficient 50% and knocked down 20 of 24 free throws as they fought past a stingy Pacific defense who hung tough through much of the night. Sullivan Menard stepped up to lead four Pirates in double figures with 18 points.
Devin Fortune led Pacific (3-4 overall, 0-2 NWC) with 20 points and seven rebounds, and the Boxers leaned on him often down the stretch.
With 14:25 to go, Jake Holtz converted an and-one layup in transition to give the Pirates a seemingly comfortable 53-32 lead. But the Boxers fought back in dramatic fashion.
Pacific embarked on a 21-2 run over the next six minutes, sparked by eight consecutive points from Fortune. Lucas Winkler and Zachary Bates added three-point plays of their own during the run as Pacific trimmed the lead to 55-53 with 7:49 to go.
Holtz gave the Pirates a 65-58 lead with three minutes left, but once again Pacific was up to the task as Jake Blazona knocked down a three to cap a 7-0 run and knot things up once again with 2:01 remaining.
"They just sped us up a little bit with the press and then they hit some tough shots so props to them. That shot to tie it up was him coming down the court full speed and pulling up, that's one of the toughest shots to make so credit to him," said Twenge. "We had some inconsistencies for sure, but we weathered it, so I guess that's what matters."
After missed free throw opportunities by both sides, the Pirates defense delivered one final stop to set up Twenge's eventual game-winner.
Pacific will be at East Texas Baptist on Dec. 15, looking to recover from a pair of hard fought conference losses. Whitworth will host Division III powerhouse Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Thursday night.
