NEWBERG, Ore. – The Whitworth Pirates turned the ball over a season-high 21 times in an 87-81 loss to George Fox in a Northwest Conference men's basketball battle on Friday night.
The 15th ranked Pirates (12-2, 3-2 NWC) erased a 14-point first half deficit but could not break through as the Bruins (7-7, 3-2 NWC) capitalized on mistakes with 32 points off turnovers to secure a win.
George Fox opened the contest with a full-court press that forced 11 Whitworth turnovers in the first half. The Bruins turned their defense into offense and jumped out to a quick 18-4 lead just over five minutes into the game. The Pirates used the three ball to claw back as Dylan Westermeyer hit two shots from distance and Stephen Behil added another to cut the lead to 19-22 at the 9:16 mark.
Both teams traded blows for the next six minutes with the Pirates inching closer. The Bucs broke through with a pair of free throws from Colton Looney that gave them their first lead of the game 32-31 with 2:41 to go. Diego Jaques' fast break layup just before the buzzer knotted the score at 42 heading into halftime. Garrett Long led eight Pirate scorers in the first half with 12 points. Whitworth had 19 bench points in the first period, six from both Looney and Westermeyer. Momo Stokes led the Bruins with 18 points on seven of nine shots.
George Fox started the second half like the first and forced three Pirate turnovers to spark a quick 8-0 run. The Pirates again looked toward the bench and fought their way to a 50-50 tie after a bucket from Caden Bateman with 16:22 to play. The game tightened up over the next ten minutes of action as Whitworth hung within three points and tied the game three more times but were unable to regain the lead.
With just over two minutes to go, the Bruins pushed their lead to 76-71 after a layup from Aiden Price. After a key turnover, George Fox drew a foul and made two free throws to make it a three-possession game with a minute left on the clock. Behil knocked down a corner three on the ensuing possession to put the score at 80-76, but the Bruins iced the game with key defensive stops and five made free throws.
Whitworth shot 41.5% (27-65) from the field and made seven of 23 (30.4%) three-point attempts. The Bruins shot 45.6% (31-68) from the field and 26.9% (7-26) from distance. The Pirates outrebounded GFU 48-35, but the Bruins scored 25 fast break points and had a 42-32 advantage in paint points.
Every player that entered the game for Whitworth scored. Long led with 17 points while Jake Holtz had 10 and grabbed eight rebounds. Westermeyer scored a season-high 11 points and Ben Nyquist added 10. Jaques and Looney were the only Pirates to not record a turnover.
Stokes led all scorers with 32 points (9-14 FG) with 11 of those coming at the free-throw line. Samuel Stewart IV had 14 points and five steals.
The Pirates visit Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday at 4:00pm.
