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| Ben College scored a team-high 23 points on Sunday vs. Emory & Henry and was named the D3hoops.com Classic men's basketball Most Outstanding Player. Whitworth athletics photo by Steve Flegel |
LAS VEGAS – Ninth-ranked Whitworth did just enough down the stretch to hold off Emory & Henry 87-80 in the finale of the D3hoops.com Classic on Sunday afternoon at South Point Arena.
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The Bucs improved to 10-1 thanks to 23 points from Ben College and a career-high 15 points off the bench by Kevin Crosno.
Whitworth is now 7-1 in four appearances at the D3hoops.com Classic since 2010.
Despite a season-low eight points, Pirate All-American Kyle Roach went 4-4 at the free throw line over the final 53 seconds to help keep the Wasps (9-4) at bay. Whitworth built a 19-point lead early in the second half before E&H cut the margin to as close as five points in the final minute.
The Pirates never trailed, opening an early 10-4 lead thanks to consecutive 3-pointers by College and Jordan Lester. Whitworth stretched the lead to 28-14 on Jared Christy's basket before the Wasps cut the margin to 34-26 on Daniel Spencer's three-pointer. A Christy 3-pointer extended the Bucs lead back to 41-28 at halftime.
College's 3-pointer capped a 9-2 spurt for Whitworth to open the second half, giving the Bucs their largest lead of the game (50-31). E&H clawed back to within 63-54 with 8:42 to play when Jarris Hendricks was fouled making a three-pointer and converted the four-point play. Whitworth seemed to reestablish control by scoring the next six points to go up 69-54. The Wasps again cut the margin to eight points with 1:30 to go after Spencer's three-point play and got within 85-80 with 31 seconds left. Roach and College were a combined 6-for-6 at the free throw line over the final minute to secure the win.
"I thought today's game was a good learning opportunity for us," said head coach Matt Logie. "We learned more about how to play with a lead after we had a solid first half. Emory & Henry is a good team and we knew they'd make runs at us."
Whitworth made 57% (29-51) of its shots, including 45% (9-20) from three-point range. The Bucs also went 20-23 (87%) from the free throw line. However, E&H was able to stay close by outrebounding the Pirates 34-30, including a 15-5 edge in offensive boards.
Women's all-tournament team
Most outstanding player: Hannah Fox, Amherst
Amber Baehman, UW-Stevens Point
Lucy Barrett, Westfield State
Emma Dorshimer, Gettysburg
Britanny Kochenderfer, Willamette
Holly Schneider, Buena Vista
Rachel Szydlowski, Carthage
Abby Weeks, Ohio Northern
Men's all-tournament team
Most outstanding player: Ben College, Whitworth
Kashaun Barnes, Ramapo
Ryan Bruns, Ohio Northern
Grant Gibb, Linfield
Joey Kern, Johns Hopkins
Emil Radisevic, Edgewood
Connor Raridon, North Central (Ill.)
Quentin Shields, UW-Platteville
Tharon Suggs, Emory & Henry
Justin Thompson, Husson
Interview from Sunday: