NEWBERG, Ore. – Christian Jurlina scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the decisive first half as Whitworth defeated Colorado College 72-56 in a neutral-site game on Saturday at George Fox University.
The 2nd-ranked Pirates (8-0) outscored the Tigers (2-4) 46-30 in the first half behind Jurlina's big effort. It was Whitworth's second win of the season over CC.
The Bucs never trailed and the game was never tied after Jurlina opened the scoring with a three-pointer. Whitworth extended its lead to 21-13 on George Valle's put-back basket with 12 minutes to play in the first half and the Pirates took their first double-digit lead (29-19) on a dunk by Drew Sears. Another Sears basket stretched the advantage to 37-21 with just over six minutes to play in the first half. Whitworth led by as many as 17 points (44-27) in the opening period after a Jurlina three-pointer with 2:35 to play.
The Pirates made 64.5% (20-31) of their shots in the first half, including 5-10 from three-point range.
While Whitworth was never able to break further away, the Bucs kept the Tigers at arm's-length throughout the second half. CC was never able to get within less than 14 points, the final time on a three-point play by Ryan Young with 2:48 left that cut the lead to 70-56.
In addition to leading the Pirates in scoring, Jurlina led the team with eight rebounds – all on the defensive end. Sears scored a career-high 16 points on 8-9 shooting from the floor. Valle finished with 15 points and five assists.
Whitworth finished the game 32-57 (56%) from the floor, a season-high for the team. The Bucs won despite shooting only two free throws in the game, thanks in part to a 32-27 advantage in rebounding.
James Lonergan led the Tigers with 16 points while Eric Houska finished with ten points. CC make 19-46 (41.3%) from the field and the Tigers were 12-23 (52.2%) from the free throw line.
Whitworth will return to action next Saturday when the Pirates host Millsaps (Miss.) in their final game before the Christmas break.