SPOKANE, Wash. – Still alive in the race for the 2023 Northwest Conference men's basketball crown, Whitworth will host first place Whitman on Tuesday (8:00 pm) before traveling to George Fox on Friday (8:00 pm). SWX will televise Tuesday's contest and both games 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.
The Pirates: Whitworth (14-7 overall, 9-3 NWC) earned a pair of wins in Oregon last weekend to stay a game behind Whitman in the NWC standings.
Freshman Stephen Behil put on a show in last Friday's 90-74 win at Pacific (Ore.). He scored 27 points on 10 of 11 shooting from the field, including 7 of 8 three-pointers. He added six rebounds and three assists in the best performance by a Pirate freshman in at least the last 30 years. He led four Pirates in double figures. Jake Holtz and Sullivan Menard scored 15 and 14 off the bench, respectively. Michael Smith had 13 points and dished four assists. Whitworth took advantage of its most productive night of the season at the free throw line, making 27 of 29 (93%). The Pirates swept the season series against the Boxers to run their winning streak to 11 games over Pacific.
Whitworth controlled Saturday's game at Lewis & Clark from the opening minutes, racing to a 47-27 lead at halftime on the way to a 75-60 win. The Pirates led by as many as 27 points on three occasions in the second half. Whitworth finished 29 of 59 (49%) from the field, including 7 of 15 (47%) from three-point range. Menard, making his first start of the season, dished six of Whitworth's 17 assists. Smith scored 27 points, while McDermott had 11 points and Holtz finished with ten points and seven rebounds. The Pirate defense limited Brenden Patrick, the NWC's leading scorer, to six points. Whitworth has now won 18 straight games against the Pioneers.
The Opponents: The Battle of Whits has played a part in determining every regular season NWC men's basketball title since 2010. Whitworth has won or shared nine championships and Whitman has earned three crowns. The Blues (17-4 overall, 10-2 NWC) currently lead the Pirates by one game after sweeping Lewis & Clark (84-79) and Pacific (79-67) on the road this weekend. Whitman, under third year head coach John Lamanna, leads the conference in scoring defense (66.3 ppg), defensive field goal percentage (41.4%) and rebound margin (+8.3) this season. Sophomore guard Xzavier Lino tops the Blues in scoring (14.6 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg). Junior point guard Walter Lum adds 11.7 points and 3.8 assists per game. Whitworth won the first match up of the season, 72-58 in Walla Walla on January 10th. JT McDermott had 18 points and nine boards for the Bucs.
George Fox (6-15 overall, 5-7 NWC) has stayed alive for a spot in the NWC tournament despite losing its top two scorers to injuries last month. The Bruins won 82-80 at Pacific Lutheran last Friday, then fell 93-83 at Puget Sound on Saturday. Maco Hamilton is in his 11th season as head coach at George Fox. The Bruins rank second in the conference in three-point percentage (38.1) and three-pointers made per game (10.6). Sophomore guard Chris Nickelberry is the current leading scorer (11.4 ppg) and also leads the team in rebounds (6.0 rpg) and assists (4.3 apg). Whitworth held off George Fox 78-74 in Spokane on January 14th as Michael Smith scored 21 points for the Pirates.
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 (13.6 points per game) this year. The starting post also leads the team in rebounds (6.3, tied for first), assists (61, 2.9 apg), blocks (13) and steals (32).
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 tops the team in scoring (14.2 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 (12.5 ppg) and third in rebounding (6.0 rpg). Holtz is making 58.7% of his field goals (second in the NWC).
The Point Man: Rowan Anderson is in his third season as Whitworth's starting point guard. He averages 8.7 points per game and is second on the team in assists (58, 2.9 apg).
Jerry, As Needed: Jerry Twenge averages 9.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, tied for the team lead in boards. 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 was at the top of the 2022-23 Northwest Conference coaches preseason 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 404-87 (.823), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 207 of its last 234 (.885).
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 207-23 (.900) 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 114-34 (.770) away from home, 86-25 (.774) 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: Whitworth will close out the 2022-23 regular season with home games against Linfield and Willamette on January 17-18.
