By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth men's basketball team heads to Tacoma this week to begin the second half of Northwest Conference play against Puget Sound on Friday (6:00pm) and Pacific Lutheran on Saturday (4:00pm). Both games are scheduled as the first half of men's-women's doubleheaders.
Check the Whitworth men's basketball schedule for live links to this week's games.
The Pirates: The 17th ranked Pirates (15-2 overall) jumped to 6-2 in the NWC after two home wins last week.
Whitworth pulled out a 69-64 win over visiting Whitman on Tuesday in the first Battle of Whits this season. The Pirates were without Diego Jaques and Jake Holtz left the game after eight minutes of play due to injury. Garrett Long stepped up and scored 13 points in the first half to give Whitworth a 40-33 lead at the break. The Blues battled back and took a three-point lead midway through the second half after a Pirate scoring drought. Whitworth executed down the stretch and retook the lead with a Stephen Behil three-pointer with 3:22 left to play. Whitman could not take advantage of free throw attempts and were stifled by the Bucs defense. The Pirates came out with a win despite shooting just 39.7% from the field. Long scored 22 points while Behil had 13 and Ben Nyquist added 10. Ty Edwards had nine points, a career-high ten rebounds and a season-high four assists.
On Saturday, the Pirates extended their winning streak to three after a 77-62 win over Linfield. Whitworth never trailed in this game and were led by Colton Looney's 20 points, who made his first start of the season. The Pirates led by as much as 22 in the first half, due to a 56.7 field goal percentage compared to Linfield's 31.4%. Stephen Behil scored five of the first seven Whitworth points in the second half to open a 48-23 lead, their largest of the game. The Wildcats made a run to get within 16, but the Bucs continued to push their lead and secured the win. Garrett Long scored 16 points and dished four assists while Behil had 15 points and eight rebounds. Whitworth shot 54.4% from the field and 43% (9-21) from long distance.
The Opponents: Puget Sound (8-9 overall, 3-5 NWC) hosts Whitworth after two road wins last week. The Loggers took down George Fox 82-71 on Friday before beating Willamette 87-82 on Saturday. After being picked second in the NWC preseason poll, UPS lost five of its first six conference games but now carry a two-game winning streak into this weekend. Senior guard Taj Phillips is third in the NWC in scoring (15.6) and leads the conference in assists (5.7). Sophomore forward Ian Cook will look to attack the glass and build on his conference leading rebound numbers (7.1). The Loggers will take advantage of open looks and rank third in the NWC in three-point percentage (.366). In their last matchup with the Pirates, UPS made 11 of 20 shots from distance in a 97-88 loss on January 4th. Whitworth has won six straight games against Puget Sound.
Pacific Lutheran (8-9, 5-3 NWC) matches up with Whitworth while riding a four-game winning streak. Last weekend, the Lutes snuck by Lewis & Clark 71-67 before handling Pacific 77-60. PLU will face off with Whitman on Friday before hosting the Pirates on Saturday. The Lutes get quality looks at the offensive end and are ranked second to Whitworth in team field goal percentage (46.4) and lead the conference in three-pointers made (139). They are just behind the Pirates in rebound margin (4.5) and outrebounded the Bucs 34-32 in their first battle this season. Senior guard Miles Nash is a player to watch as he leads the team in points (13.3), assists (3.3) and steals (1.2) per game. Center Brandin Riedel is the only other Lute who averages double figures with 10.5 points per game. Whitworth has lost two of its last three matchups with PLU, including a 75-73 loss this season in Spokane on January 3rd.
NWC Standings: Whitworth (6-2 NWC) now holds a tie for first place with Whitman (6-2) after their head-to-head battle this week. Lewis & Clark (5-3) and Pacific Lutheran (5-3) are tied for third while Pacific (4-4) and Linfield (4-4) fight for fourth. Puget Sound and George Fox both sit at 3-5 while Willamette has yet to earn a conference win.
Starting Hot: The Pirates finished their nine game non-conference schedule unbeaten for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Whitworth's 9-0 start was 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 posted an impressive 49.1% field goal percentage and a 17.4 average scoring margin, each ranking first in the NWC. During that stretch, Whitworth also ranked 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 ranks fourth in the NWC in scoring at 15.3 points per game while posting 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He has been named NWC men's basketball Student-Athlete of the Week twice this season. Holtz has scored 1,383 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 second in the NWC in scoring with 16.3 points per game to go along with 4.9 rebounds, and a team-leading 3.3 assists per game. He is also third in the NWC in assist/turnover ratio (2.0). 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 1.8 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 12.4 points per game on 37.4% shooting from beyond the arc. Junior Ty Edwards has made 66 straight starts for Whitworth and is posting 6.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 57.9% 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 has taken advantage of his opportunities in place of injured Diego Jaques, averaging 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game at the off-guard position. Colton Looney is shooting 50% from beyond the arc while averaging 7.5 points and 2.5 rebounds. Caden Bateman, a transfer from the University of Montana, provides size and athleticism off the bench and averages 3.5 rebounds per contest.
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 443-101 (.814), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 226 of its last 257 (.879).
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 225-28 (.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 126-41 (.754) away from home, 97-27 (.782) 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 110-37 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 make a trip to Oregon to visit Lewis & Clark on February 7th before battling Willamette on February 8th.
