SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University men's basketball team fought its way to a 77-73 comeback win over visiting Hardin-Simmons on Saturday night at Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The Pirates grab their sixth straight win to open the season, while Hardin-Simmons splits their road trip from Texas and drops to 4-4. Whitworth outscored the Cowboys 41-34 in the second half and overcame a nine-point deficit to steal the win.
"This weekend felt like the NCAA tournament, and we can take great lessons from these games," said Pirate head coach Damion Jablonski after defeating two formidable non-conference opponents in back-to-back days.
All-American forward Will Bartoszek made his presence felt early as he converted a three-point play and hit a three-pointer to give Hardin-Simmons a quick 6-0 lead. The Pirates regrouped and went on a run of their own. Diego Jaques made a layup then forced a turnover, and a Stephen Behil three-pointer gave Whitworth an 18-12 lead with 13:37 left in the first half.
Each team exchanged blows for the remainder of the period, including four lead changes. A Garrett Long pull-up jump shot put the Pirates within three just before halftime at 39-36. Bartoszek led the Cowboys with 12 points at the break while Jake Holtz led the Bucs with 13. The three-point deficit was the first time Whitworth trailed at halftime this season.
The second half started at a high pace as each team continued to trade baskets, but the Cowboys slowly pushed their lead. A Jamar Ingram layup gave Hardin-Simmons its largest lead of the game at nine with 9:06 left in the half. The Pirates hung around before Behil nailed two three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to two with 2:30 to play. A minute later, a Long layup fell off the rim leading to a transition basket that put the Cowboys back up five with 1:28 left.
On the ensuing possession, Ty Edwards forced a turnover and pushed the ball up the court leading to a Diego Jaques trip to the free throw line. Jaques made the first and missed the second, but Edwards grabbed the offensive rebound and laid the ball in for the game-tying basket with 52 seconds remaining. With the game locked at 73, the Pirates got a defensive stop and drew a foul, which put Edwards at the line. He made both to put the Pirates up by two with 15 seconds left.
The Cowboys put the ball in the hands of Bartoszek with the game on the line. He drove to the rim in the final seconds, but his spin move was cut off by Holtz, who grabbed the rebound off Bartoszek's tough shot and drew a foul. Holtz made both of his free throws to put the game on ice and give the Pirates the win.
Jablonski praised the team's toughness and physicality to close the game. "I was really proud of the guys' grit and they really picked up the defensive intensity in the final eight minutes," he said.
Hardin-Simmons finished the game shooting 46.7% from the floor after making just one of seven shots in the final four minutes. Whitworth pulled out the victory amidst shooting just 40.3% from the field. The Pirates took care of the ball and had a season-low four turnovers, while scoring 18 points off 11 forced Cowboy turnovers.
Four players scored in double figures for Whitworth, including a game-high 21 points from Holtz. Behil put up 16 points and Jaques had 15. Edwards scored his season-high 14 points on 5-8 shooting and had three steals. Long showed his ability to crash the boards from his guard spot, grabbing nine rebounds with six of them offensive.
Bartoszek, Austin Brewer and Chris Bryant all had 14 points for Hardin-Simmons. Brewer grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots.
The Whitworth men will visit Southwestern on Monday, December 16th, their first of three games during a road trip to Texas.
