SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth University's run of appearances in Northwest Conference men's basketball championship games ended at 20 in a row after the top-seeded Pirates were upset by 4th-seeded Lewis & Clark 71-64 on Friday night in the semifinals of the 2025 NWC tournament.
The Pirates fall to 22-4 and must hope for an at-large berth to the NCAA Division III tournament when the field is announced on Monday morning. The Pioneers (14-12) advance to play third-seeded Whitman (14-12) in Saturday's championship game at the Fieldhouse. The winner of that game will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA post-season.
The Lewis & Clark defense made it hard on Whitworth from the opening minutes. The Pirates hit only one of their first ten shots and started 0-5 from three-point range. However, the Pioneers were only able to take a 9-5 lead during that first six-minute stretch. Whitworth took its first lead at 13-12 on Colton Looney's three pointer. The visitors came right back on a 12-4 run, capped by Kody Uyesugi's three-pointer just before the shot clock buzzer, to take their largest lead of the half at 24-17. Trailing 26-19, Whitworth held L&C scoreless for nearly four minutes and went back ahead 27-26 on Jake Holtz's driving lay up off a turnover. Mikey Medlock Jr., who led all scorers with 11 first half points, scored the final basket of the half to give the Pioneers a 28-27 lead at the break. Whitworth shot 10 of 31 (32.3%) from the floor and 1-8 (12.5%) from beyond the arc in the first half, yet only trailed by one point because the Pirates had a 24-13 edge in rebounds, including an 11-1 advantage in offensive boards.
Lewis & Clark never led Whitworth take the lead in the second half. Ben Nyquist hit a tough jumper to pull the Pirates within 42-40 and then the Bucs got a defensive stop to set up a chance to tie the game. L&C's defense prevented that basket and the Pioneers began to pull away, eventually taking a 60-46 lead on a pair of Isaac Ticeson free throws with 5:01 left in the game. Whitworth did not give up and got within 66-62 on Lucas Meissner's three-pointer with just over a minute to go. After Garrett Long's steal at the other end, Holtz had an open look at a three-pointer that rimmed out and Medlock Jr. answered with two clutch free throws. Sam Henderson had a break away dunk on the final play.
In what may have been their final game in a Pirate uniform, Long finished with 20 points and Holtz had 18 to lead Whitworth in scoring. Holtz added 10 rebounds for a double-double, to go along with two assists, two steals and two blocked shots. Whitworth's shooting improved slightly in the second half to 25-67 (37.3%) for the game. The Bucs finished 5-21 (23.8%) from three-point range. Whitworth ended the game with a 44-34 lead in rebounds.
Medlock Jr. posted a game-high 24 points for L&C, while Henderson added 17 points off the bench. The Pioneers shot 24-50 (48%) from the floor and 5-13 (38.5%) from beyond the arc.
The last time Whitworth did not play in the NWC tournament championship game was 2001. No tournaments were held in 2004, 2005 and 2021.
Third-seeded Whitman handled 2nd-seeded Pacific Lutheran 82-62 in Friday's first semifinal. The Blues had five players in double figures, led by 13 points each from Grant Hunt and Isaiah Amato. Emmett Holt led PLU with 13 points. Whitman will play in its eighth consecutive title game.
The last time that a #3 seed played a #4 seed in the NWC tournament championship was 2000 when 4th-seeded Willamette defeated #3 seeded Linfield.
