By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University men's basketball team returns to Spokane to resume its non-conference schedule against two unfamiliar opponents this week. On Friday, the Pirates take on Belhaven (Miss.) at 7:00 pm before hosting Hardin-Simmons at 6:00 pm on Saturday.
Check the Whitworth men's basketball schedule for live links to this week's games.
The Pirates: Whitworth earned two wins last week on their first road trip of the season. The Pirates' 4-0 start has landed them the 20th spot in the latest D3hoops.com top 25 poll.
Whitworth held on to defeat 24th ranked California Lutheran 81-76 on Thursday, November 21st. The Kingsmen outscored the Pirates 45-41 in the second half but could not break through as the Bucs shot the ball well and their defense held strong. Garrett Long scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Pirates while adding five rebounds and five assists. Stephen Behil put up 15 points and Diego Jaques had 12 points, five rebounds and four steals. Jake Holtz led with 11 rebounds. Whitworth shot 55.9% from the field and had a 43-24 advantage on the boards.
Whitworth secured a dominant 87-44 win over Caltech on Saturday, November 23rd. The Pirates outscored the Beavers 48-18 in the second half and shot a season best 47.6% from beyond the arc (10-21) and 56.9% from the field. Stephen Behil scored 16 points and added nine rebounds. Jake Holtz added 13 points and five rebounds while Garrett Long scored 11 points and six rebounds. Craig Mueller, Dylan Westermeyer, and Finnegan Anderson each nailed a three-pointer in the late minutes of the game, contributing to the Pirates' 45 bench points.
The Opponents: Belhaven makes their first ever trip to Spokane after a 5-2 start to the season and a dominant 92-33 win over Southeastern Baptist on Monday. The Blazers finished last season with an 18-10 record and were defeated by Maryville in the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) championship game. Senior guard Jordan Marshall leads the team with 11.6 points per game. The rebound battle will be key in this matchup, as Whitworth is fifth in Division III in rebound margin (15.8), while Blazers senior forward Jacob Reese is fourth in Division III in rebounds per game (13.7) and first in Division III in offensive rebounds per game (7.1). Belhaven is led by third-year head coach Josh Brooks.
Hardin-Simmons visits Whitworth after starting their season with a 3-3 record. On Monday, the Cowboys defeated McMurry 89-76. Hardin-Simmons finished the 2023-24 season with a 19-7 overall record and were defeated in the first round of the American Southwest Conference (ASC) tournament. Senior center Austin Brewer leads the Cowboys in scoring and rebounding, putting up 19.3 points and 10 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Chris Bryant adds additional size and scoring to the frontcourt, averaging 18.3 points and 3.3 blocks per game. The Cowboys are coached by Matt Bracket who won ASC Coach of the Year in 2024.
Starting Hot: With wins over Cal Lutheran and Caltech, the Pirates are off to their first 4-0 start since the 2019-20 season. The last time the Whitworth men started 5-0 was in the 2017-18 season when they won their first eight games and made an NCAA Tournament appearance.
During the Pirates' win streak, they have posted an impressive 54.5% field goal percentage, ranking second in NCAA Division III. The wins have come in a dominant fashion as well, ranking sixth in the Division III in scoring margin (23.5).
An Unstoppable Force: Jake Holtz, in his fifth year as a Pirate, is poised to build on a stellar 2023-24 season in which he averaged 16.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists and was named second team All-NWC. Through four games this season, he averages 15.3 points, eight rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.8 steals and one block per game, leading the team in blocks, rebounds and assists per game. Holtz has scored over 1,100 points during his Whitworth career as he continues to stuff the stat sheet and be problematic for opposing defenses.
Long Time Coming: After two seasons at Carroll College and an injury riddled 2023-24 season, senior Garrett Long is coming into his own as a leader at point guard for the Pirates. Long showed his potential after four starts in the 2024 postseason after being inserted into the starting lineup due to an injury. He posted 12 points in the NWC Final against Whitman and had 11 points and seven rebounds at Cal Lutheran in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Now in the full-time starting point guard role, Long is averaging a team-high 17.5 points per game along with 4.3 rebounds and three assists. In the win over Cal Lutheran on November 21st, he scored a career-high 29 points on 11-16 shooting. Long also leads the Pirates' effort to pressure opposing ball handlers on defense, grabbing 2.3 steals per game.
Junior Leaders: The Pirates continue to reload after losing key contributors from last season such as NWC Player of the Year Jojo Anderson and seniors Jerry Twenge and Sullivan Menard. This year, the load falls on the shoulders of five juniors who have stepped into impactful roles. Junior sharpshooter Stephen Behil stepped into the starting lineup and is averaging 14.3 points per game on 46.2% shooting from beyond the arc. Diego Jaques has proved to be a strong attacker through two games for the Pirates, averaging an efficient 11.5 points per game. Starting at the post for the second straight season is junior Ty Edwards who is averaging 6.8 points and six rebounds per game while shooting a team-leading 72.2% from the field.
The production hasn't just come from the starting lineup, as Colton Looney and Ben Nyquist have demonstrated the depth of the Pirate rotation. Nyquist averages 1.3 steals per game and has been strong on the glass at the off-guard position. Colton Looney is shooting an impressive 54.5% from beyond the arc while averaging 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds.
Pirates picked to win: Whitworth is listed at the top of the 2024-25 Northwest Conference coaches poll with six first place votes and 61 points. The Pirates are coming off a 20-9 record in 2023-24, tying Whitman for first place in the regular season but defeating them to win the conference tournament championship. Whitman is tied for second place with Puget Sound with 52 points each. Puget Sound received two first place votes to Whitman's one.
Nearly Two Decades of Dominance: Since the beginning of the 2005-06 season (over 17 seasons) the Pirates are 432-99 (.814), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 217 of its last 246 (.882).
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 218-27 (.889) 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 122-40 (.753) away from home, 93-26 (.781) in true road games.
Tune in: Whitworth's men's basketball games are streamed live at whitworthpirates.com from the "watch link" on the men's basketball schedule page. Pirate basketball games are called by Bud Nameck who is in his tenth 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 14th season on the Pirate coaching staff in 2024-25, and his sixth as head coach of the Pirates. He is 99-35 as Whitworth's head coach. Jablonski has led Whitworth to the NCAA Division III tournament in each season as the head coach, 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. Jablonski is joined by assistant coaches Nick Sullivan, a former graduate assistant at Gonzaga, and Seth Hall, a former NWC Player of the Year at Pacific Lutheran.
Coming Up Next: Whitworth will head to Texas to visit Southwestern on December 16th, Schreiner on December 18th and Texas Lutheran on December 19th.
