By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth men's basketball team remains in Spokane for the second weekend of Northwest Conference action to face off against a pair of Oregon schools. The Pirates host Willamette on Friday at 6:00pm before a matchup with Lewis & Clark on Saturday at 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.
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 (10-1 overall, 1-1 NWC) split their first two conference games last weekend and land at #17 on the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
The Pirates fell 75-73 to Pacific Lutheran on Friday, their first loss of the 2024-25 season. The Pirates trailed by as much as seven in the second half but battled back and tied the game at 69 before PLU answered and took a 74-71 lead with 30 seconds to play. Jake Holtz made a layup on the next possession and the Lutes missed a free throw at the other end to give the Pirates a chance to tie or take the lead. Whitworth could not execute as Garrett Long had the ball stripped and committed a foul that ended the Pirates' chance at a quality shot. The Bucs shot 47.5% from the field and were outrebounded 34-32 in a game that held 12 ties and 12 lead changes. Holtz led Whitworth with 23 points and Long scored 15.
The Pirates got back on track with a 97-88 win over Puget Sound on Saturday. Whitworth scored a season-high in points in the win but also gave up a season-high as well. After leading by two at the break, Whitworth went on a 12-2 run early in the second half to stretch the lead to 13. The Loggers fought back and cut the lead to six late in the game, but the Pirates knocked down 11 of 12 free throws in the final two minutes to secure the win. Whitworth shot 51.7% from the field and had its best free throw shooting night of the season (29-33, 88%). Jake Holtz scored a game-high 29 points, Garrett Long put up 24 and Diego Jaques added a season-high 18.
The Opponents: Willamette (6-4 overall, 0-2 NWC) makes the trip to Spokane after a 91-81 loss to George Fox last week. The Bearcats first conference game came on December 6th when they fell 76-55 to Lewis & Clark. Willamette ranks second in the NWC in scoring offense (82.6 ppg) and makes a living on the glass. Their 42.5 team rebounds and 32.7 defensive rebounds per game lead the NWC. Free throws may be a key to this matchup as well, as Willamette leads the NWC with 27.5 free throws attempts per game and make 68.4% of attempts. The Bearcats are led by senior guard Josiah Frank who was named second team All-NWC last season and averages 14.6 points per game, sixth in the NWC. Senior guard Ryder Hsiung is second on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game, while senior forward D'Ante Dean could be a player to watch after getting his first action of the season at George Fox and posted 11 points and 13 rebounds. After winning seven straight matchups dating back to 2020, Whitworth lost 85-78 to the Bearcats in their latest battle on January 27th, 2024. Willamette has not beaten the Pirates in Spokane since 2008.
Lewis & Clark (6-5 overall, 2-0 NWC) began its first round of NWC play with a win over Willamette and 88-62 victory over Pacific. The Pioneers will play Whitman in Walla Walla on Friday before playing in Spokane on Saturday. L&C is a strong defensive team and leads the NWC in opponent points per game (61.1) and opponent field goal percentage (38.7). The Pioneers get quality looks on the offensive end as well, resulting in a 46.1 team field goal percentage that ranks second in the NWC. Senior forward Sam Henderson is the first of two L&C players that average double figures in scoring at 13.3 points per game. Senior guard Mikey Medlock Jr. averages 10.8 points and senior center Sebastian DePrez leads the team with 5.7 rebounds per game. Whitworth has won 20 straight matchups against the Pioneers, including a 93-73 win in Spokane on February 3rd last season. Lewis & Clark's last win over the Pirates came on February 21st, 2014 in Portland by a score of 73-70.
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 second in the NWC in scoring at 17.3 points per game while posting 7.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He has made 40 straight starts for the Pirates and been named NWC men's basketball Student-Athlete of the Week two times this season. Holtz has scored 1,325 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 third in the NWC in scoring at 15.1 points per game to go along with five rebounds, and a team-leading 2.9 assists per game. He is also second in the NWC in assist/turnover ratio (2.7). 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 12.5 points per game on 40% 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. Junior Ty Edwards has made 60 straight starts for Whitworth and is posting seven points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 62.3% 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 56.3% from beyond the arc while averaging 6.5 points and 1.9 rebounds. Caden Bateman, a transfer from the University on Montana, provides size and athleticism off the bench and averages 3.2 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 438-100 (.814), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 221 of its last 251 (.88).
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 221-28 (.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 105-36 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 canceled. 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 head to Oregon to square off against George Fox on January 17th and Pacific on January 18th.
