By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – After an unbeaten non-conference slate, the Whitworth University men's basketball team begins Northwest Conference play this weekend at Whitworth Fieldhouse. The Pirates host Pacific Lutheran on Friday at 6:00pm before a matchup with Puget Sound on Saturday at 4:00pm.
Check the Whitworth men's basketball schedule for live links to this week'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. 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 wrapped up the non-conference schedule with three wins in Texas to remain unbeaten. The Pirates' 9-0 start has landed them the 14th spot in the latest D3hoops.com top 25 poll.
The Pirates defeated Southwestern 87-64 on December 16th in the first of their three-game road trip. Whitworth led by just one point at halftime but outscored the Southwestern Pirates 55-33 in the second half to pull away. Colton Looney put on a shooting clinic and scored 21 points on seven three-point baskets all in the second half. Garett Long scored 16 points while Ben Nyquist added 11 points and seven rebounds. The Pirates shot a season high 51.9% (14-27) from beyond the arc.
Whitworth earned a 79-66 win over Schreiner on December 18th. The Pirates led for much of the game, but the Mountaineers would not give in. Schreiner battled to a six-point deficit with under five minutes to play, but the Bucs made key defensive stops and scored 10 unanswered points to secure a win. Looney led the Pirates in scoring for the second game in a row with 19 points. Jake Holtz and Garrett Long each scored 15 while Stephen Behil put in 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Whitworth shot 41.1% from the field.
The Pirates closed the road trip with an 85-64 victory over Texas Lutheran on December 19th. Whitworth started hot and opened the game with a 9-0 lead, which they continued to stretch. The Bucs largest lead of the game was 80-55 with 4:40 left to play after three consecutive three-pointers. Whitworth never trailed and shot 52.5% from the floor. Jake Holtz had a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Stephen Behil scored 11 and Garrett Long added 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Opponents: Pacific Lutheran comes to Spokane after posting a 3-6 record in its non-conference schedule. The Lutes are on a three-game losing streak with their latest matchup being a close 81-79 defeat against UC Santa Cruz in Tacoma. Junior guard Miles Nash, a second team All-NWC selection last season, leads the team in scoring (13.4), assists (4.0) and steals per game (1.5). Senior forward Brandin Riedel was also a second team All-NWC honoree last season and averages 10.9 points and a team-leading 6.4 rebounds per game. PLU is second in the NWC in rebound margin at 7.4, trailing Whitworth by a margin of just 0.3 rebounds. Last season, the Pirates defeated the Lutes in their first matchup in Spokane before PLU beat Whitworth 75-72 in Tacoma.
Puget Sound visits Spokane after a 5-4 start to the season. The Loggers also hosted UC Santa Cruz in their last matchup and were defeated 82-70. UPS will travel to Walla Walla to face Whitman on Friday before playing Whitworth on Saturday. The Loggers are led by senior guard Liam Ruttledge who averages 14.7 points per game. Senior point guard Taj Phillips, a first team All-NWC selection last season, averages 12.2 points and is tied for a NWC best 5.7 assists per game. Sophomore forward Hugo Rutherfurd was the NWC Rookie of the Year in 2024 and leads the NWC in blocks at 2.3 per game. UPS is a good free-throw shooting team and lead the NWC at 78% from the line. Whitworth swept the season series with the Loggers last season before winning a third matchup 80-59 in the NWC Tournament semifinal in Spokane.
Starting Hot: With three more wins in Texas, the Pirates have finished the non-conference schedule unbeaten for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Whitworth's 9-0 start is its longest winning streak since the 2015-16 season, when the Pirates won 19 straight games to start the season, won the NWC tournament and finished the season with a 26-2 overall record.
During the Pirates' win streak, they have posted an impressive 49.1% field goal percentage and a 17.4 average scoring margin, each ranking first in the NWC. Whitworth also ranks first in the NWC in three-point shooting at 39%.
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. This season he averages 15.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.1 steals per game, leading the team in points and assists per game. Holtz has scored 1,273 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 14.1 points per game along with 5.6 rebounds, and a team-leading 3.2 assists per game. He is second in the NWC in assist/turnover ratio (2.9). 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 ballhandlers on defense, grabbing 1.7 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 13.2 points per game on 41.8% shooting from beyond the arc. Diego Jaques has proved to be a strong attacker for the Pirates, averaging an efficient 10.4 points per game. Starting at the post for the second straight season is junior Ty Edwards who is posting 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting a team-leading 65.9% 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 1.2 steals per game and has been strong on the glass at the off-guard position. Colton Looney is shooting a NWC leading 58.1% from beyond the arc while averaging eight points and 2.2 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 437-99 (.815), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 220 of its last 249 (.883).
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 220-27 (.89) 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 125-40 (.757) away from home, 96-26 (.787) in true road games.
Tune in: Whitworth's home men's basketball games are streamed live at whitworthpirates.com from the "watch link" for home games and the "listen link" for road games 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. An Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Famer, 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 104-35 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.
With the win over Belhaven on December 6th, Damion Jablonski earned his 100th win as a head coach.
Coming Up Next: Whitworth will continue a four game-home stretch when they host Willamette on January 10th at 6:00pm and Lewis & Clark on January 11th at 4:00pm.
