SPOKANE, Wash. – Ben Nyquist (20) and Dylan Westermeyer (17) each had career-high scoring performances to lead Whitworth to a 94-72 win over Bethany College in Thursday's non-conference men's basketball Spokane Public Schools game at Whitworth Fieldhouse.
Over 1,200 elementary students were in attendance to watch the Pirates pull away in the second half and move to 2-0. The Bison fell to 0-2.
The Bucs led by four in the first three minutes of the game, but Bethany's Ryan Reasbeck caught fire and made four three-pointers in a three-minute stretch to cap off a 16-3 Bison run at the 12:16 mark. Down 20-11, Whitworth battled back, finally tying the game at 32 after a Nyquist jumper with six minutes to play in the first frame. Sparked by a pair of three-point baskets from Dylan Westermeyer, the Pirates closed the first half on a 10-5 run in the final two minutes to take a 49-43 lead into halftime.
Whitworth shot 51.4% (18-35 FG) from the field in the first half and the Bison stayed in the game with 12 made free throws. Caden Bateman led the Pirate offense with nine points and Westermeyer added eight. Reasbeck led all scorers with 19 points and five made three-pointers in the first half.
The Pirates kept the momentum going and started the second half on a 15-2 run, started by a Nyquist shot from distance and capped by a Steven Behil layup. Whitworth's defense held Bethany to just 1-11 shooting during that stretch as the Bucs led 64-45 with 13 minutes left. Jayden Jackson cut the lead to 11 twice with a pair of buckets at the rim, but the Bison wouldn't get any closer. Nyquist followed with seven unanswered points to push the score to 79-61 at the seven minute mark. Westermeyer's late free throws gave the Pirates their largest lead of the game at 94-70. Bethany's Reasbeck scored just two points in the second frame as the Bison were outscored 45-29.
Whitworth's defense held Bethany to just 26.2% (11-42 FG) shooting in the second half and 30.0% (24-80) in the game. The Bucs shot 48.5% (33-68 FG) from the field and 33.3% (8-24 FG) from three-point range. Whitworth scored 38 bench points and outrebounded the Bison 56-43.
Nyquist added four rebounds and two steals to his career-high 20 points. Westermeyer's career-high 17 came in just 14 minutes. Behil had 11 points and led the team with four assists while Ty Edwards grabbed ten rebounds. Ben Fried had four steals.
Jackson led Bethany with 22 points and ten rebounds. Reasbeck finished with 21 points and Coco Rose had 13.
The Whitworth men will take a trip to Minnesota to visit Gustavus Adolphus on Thursday, November 20th and Saint John's on Saturday, November 22nd.
