SAINT PETER, Minn. – Whitworth battled back from an 11-point second half deficit to steal a 62-60 win over Gustavus Adolphus College in a non-conference men's basketball matchup of unbeatens at Gus Young Court on Thursday night.
The Pirates (3-0) overcame 19 turnovers to hand the Gusties (2-1) their first loss.
Gustavus Adolphus forced the Bucs to fight through a full-court press and tight defensive pressure. Whitworth held tough and led 7-4 early, but the Gusties went on a 13-5 run and took a 17-12 lead with 13:31 to play in the half. Gustavus' lead slowly stretched to 13 as the Pirates struggled to take care of the ball. Led by a pair of Colton Looney three-pointers, Whitworth regrouped and closed the final three minutes of the half on an 8-2 run and cut the lead to 27-34 at halftime.
The Pirates shot 40.7% and the Gusties shot 37.8% from the field in the first half. Gustavus shot the ball ten more times due to 11 Whitworth turnovers. Looney led all scorers with 13 points at the break.
Both teams traded runs to start the second frame. A three-pointer from Eli Wolff eventually pushed the Gustavus lead up to 11 with 9:33 to go. Whitworth showed fight and continued to chip away. At the 4:59 mark, Stephen Behil hit a three-pointer and brought the Pirates within four. Looney followed with a three-point play and two more free throws to give Whitworth a 56-55 lead with 3:55 to go, their first since the 15:35 mark in the first half.
After Andrew Quam's floater put the Gusties back up by one, Behil buried a clutch three-pointer to give Whitworth a 59-57 advantage with just over a minute to go. After getting a stop, Caden Bateman drew a foul and made his first free throw. Jamison Atwood grabbed an offensive rebound after Bateman's second shot and made one of two foul shots to give the Bucs a two-possession lead (61-57). Another key stop and free throw from Ben Nyquist put the Pirates in full control. The Gusties made a consolation three-pointer with under a second remaining. Whitworth held Gustavus to just five points (2-8 FG) in the final five minutes of play.
The Pirates, who led for just 4:51 of game time, shot 36.2% (21-58) from the floor and 28.6% (10-35) from beyond the arc. The Gusties shot 34.3% (24-70) and 29% (9-31) from deep. Whitworth outrebounded Gustavus 46-35 and earned 18 second chance points.
Looney led all scorers with 18 points and added a team-high nine rebounds. Behil had 13 points and Nyquist added 10. Ty Edwards led the team with three assists.
Myles Barnette led the Gusties with 12 points and seven assists. Quam had 11 points and Jake Schmitt scored 10.
The Pirate men will visit Saint John's on Saturday at 3:00pm (PST).
