SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth University is headed to the 2023 Northwest Conference men's basketball tournament this weekend. The Pirates will be playing in their 25th NWC tournament and are aiming for their 19th consecutive appearance in the championship game. However, for the first time in 20 years, Whitworth will have to knock off a higher seeded team to reach the NWC final when the third-seeded Bucs battle second-seeded Puget Sound in Friday's second semifinal (8:00 pm) at Whitman College. The championship game will take place on Saturday at 8:00 pm.
Check the Whitworth men's basketball schedule for other live links to this weekend's games.
Tickets: Digital tickets are required for entrance to Whitman's Sherwood Center. Tickets can be purchased in advance using the Hometown Ticketing App. Follow the Tickets link on the schedule for access. Tickets are $15 for adults for admission to both games and $10 for senior adults and children. Whitworth students get free admission with their student I.D.
The Pirates: Whitworth (16-9 overall, 11-5 NWC) won twice at home last weekend to move into a tie for second place in the final conference standings with Puget Sound.
The Pirates steadily pulled away from visiting Linfield on Friday night, building a 24-point lead with less than five minutes to play in the game before defeating the Wildcats 79-66. The win gave Whitworth a split of the season series with Linfield. The Pirates made 53% of their shots in the game, including 64% (14-25) in the second half. Whitworth also had a 35-29 edge in rebounding. Michael Smith scored 20 points, while Rowan Anderson chipped in 16 points and four assists. Jerry Twenge added 15 points and seven rebounds. Linfield needed a win at Whitworth to have a realistic shot at qualifying for the NWC tournament.
The Pirates dominated visiting Willamette 98-75 in a Senior Night victory on Saturday. JT McDermott, Anderson and Smith were honored prior to the tip off and McDermott ended up leading Whitworth with 21 points in the game. The Bucs shot 12 of 27 (44%) from three-point range and built a lead as large as 39 points midway through the second half. Whitworth dominated the backboards 47-30 and dished 19 assists on 32 made baskets. Jake Holtz came off the bench for his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Sullivan Menard (16 points) and Ty Edwards (12 points) each tallied career-high scoring totals. Whitworth swept Willamette this season.
NWC Tournament Info: The 2023 Northwest Conference playoffs consist of a four-team tournament hosted by regular season champion Whitman College in Walla Walla. The semifinals are on Friday, Feb. 24, and championship game is on Saturday, February 25. While the 2022-23 Northwest Conference championship was decided by regular season play, the 2023 NWC playoffs will determine the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
NWC Tournament History: The 2023 NWC tournament is the 26th conference tournament since the NWC (then the NCIC) first began a league playoff in 1994. This will be Whitworth's 25th appearance, the most of any conference school. Heading into this week the Pirates are 30-10 all-time in the league playoffs. The Bucs have appeared in the championship game 19 times, including the last 18 in a row, and have won 14 times, including last season. The league did not hold a tournament in 1999, 2004, 2005 and 2021 (due to COVID-19). The only season the Bucs did not qualify is 2000.
This will be Puget Sound's tenth appearance in the NWC tournament and first appearance since 2018. The Loggers are 5-8 all-time in the league playoff games and looking for their second crown, and first title since 2006.
The Opponent: Puget Sound (18-7 overall, 11-5 NWC) had its best regular season since 2008-09 and the Loggers are scoring 80.7 points per game and giving up 75.7 points per contest. Aubry Shelton, a former All-NWC forward for the Loggers, is in his fifth season as head coach at UPS. Four Loggers average double figures in scoring, led by senior forward Mussie Teclemarium's averages 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. But in two games against Whitworth, he has averaged 22.6 points and seven boards. Sophomore PG Taj Phillips drives the offense, averaging 11.7 points and 4.9 assists while making 44% of his three-point attempts. The teams split in the regular season with Puget Sound winning 82-75 in Tacoma and Whitworth winning 77-75 in Spokane on JT McDermott's basket as time expired.
NWC tiebreakers gave UPS the #2 seed based on the Loggers' sweep of #4 George Fox, a team with which Whitworth split.
The Other Half: The other half of the NWC tournament bracket features top-seeded Whitman hosting fourth-seeded George Fox at 6:00 pm on Friday.
Whitman (21-4 overall, 14-2 NWC) earned its first NWC title since claiming three straight from 2017 through 2019. The Blues beat Willamette 85-64 and Linfield 79-65 at home last weekend. An Eastern Washington native, John Lamanna is in his third season as head coach at Whitman. The Blues average 81.1 points per game and give up only 66.2 points per contest. Like UPS, Whitman has four players averaging double figures in scoring, led by sophomore guard Xzavier Lino. Lino posts 13.7 points and 5.7 rebounds while making 43% of his three-pointers. Junior point guard Walter Lum puts up 11.8 points, 3.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. Whitworth and Whitman split during the regular season, each winning on the other's home court. The Pirates won 72-58 in Walla Walla and the Blues won 85-67 in Spokane.
George Fox (9-16 overall, 8-8 NWC) started last week tied for sixth place, but vaulted into sole possession of fourth place win a pair of wins. The Bruins, who average 80.1 points per game and allow 82.6 per game, won 77-74 over Lewis & Clark and 59-57 over Pacific. Maco Hamilton is in his 11th season at George Fox, the second-longest tenured coach in the NWC. Sophomore guard Chris Nickelberry averages 11.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game and payed a huge part in the Bruins' win over Whitworth on Feb. 10 with 17 points, seven boards and four assists. Sophomore guard Austin Clark adds 9.7 points per game and leads the team in three-pointers made. Whitworth defeated GFU 78-74 in Spokane, but the Bruins won 90-84 in Newberg.
JT Mc "Does" it: JT McDermott (Gr.) was Whitworth's top scorer the last season and currently is second on the team in scoring average (13.2 points per game) this year. The starting post also leads the team in rebounds (6.4), assists (72, 2.9 apg), blocks (14, tied) and steals (34).
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, transferred for his final season to Whitworth from Sonoma State (NCAA DII), where he started 47 games in two seasons. Smith currently tops the team in scoring (13.3 ppg), including 30 in a win over Puget Sound on Jan. 28 and 27 in a win at Lewis & Clark on Feb. 4.
No Holtz Barred: Jake Holtz is third on the team in scoring (12.7 ppg) and second in rebounding (6.3 rpg). Holtz is making 60.5% of his field goals (second in the NWC and 22nd in DIII). He is tied for the team lead in blocked shots (14).
The Point Man: Rowan Anderson is in his third season as Whitworth's starting point guard. He averages 9.7 points per game and is second on the team in assists (66, 2.9 apg).
Jerry, As Needed: Jerry Twenge averages 9.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. 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 (42.5%) and in free throw percentage (85.2%).
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 406-89 (.820), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 209 of its last 238 (.878).
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 209-24 (.897) 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 114-35 (.765) away from home, 86-26 (.768) 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 Santa Clara, Gonzaga and Washington State. He has called more than 1,100 games on the radio during his career.
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: The winner of the NWC tournament will earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Div. III tournament. That field will be announced at 10:00 am (PST) on Monday morning (Feb. 27) and first/second round games will take place on March 3-4.
