SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth University blew by its school record for points in a game during Wednesday night's 143-95 win over visiting Concordia University-Chicago in a non-conference men's basketball contest on Wednesday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The 9th-ranked Pirates crushed the previous school record of 123 points originally set in November of 1987 and tied earlier this season in a 123-98 win over Pacific (Ore.). Whitworth scored 71 in the first half and 72 in the second.
The Pirates have reached 100 or more points four straight games. The Bucs had never hit the century mark more than twice in a row before this season.
"Our guys have been committed to our offensive concepts and the way we want to play," said head coach Matt Logie. "We have played unselfishly and have taken care of the basketball. And when you take on teams that want to go up-tempo and you take care of the ball you will get results like this."
Ben College opened the game for Whitworth with a personal 8-0 run, hitting a pair of three-pointers out of the gate. The Pirates led 16-8 when Concordia-Chicago used a 12-0 run to take a 20-16 lead after a three-pointer by Mitch Pelissier. Whitworth rebounded with six straight, retaking a 22-20 lead after a three-point play by Isaiah Hernandez. Still leading only 36-35, Whitworth finally began to pull away over the final eight minutes of the first half. Kevin Crosno's three-pointer extended the Pirates' lead to 52-42 and Jared Christy's layup made it 61-49. College hit a pair of free throws right before the break to give Whitworth a 71-56 lead at halftime. The Bucs shot 65% from the field in the first half (24-37) and dominated at the free throw line (20-23, 87%). CUC hung close by making 55% (21-38) from the floor, including 56% (10-18) from three-point range.
The second half was all Pirates as Whitworth outscored the Cougars 72-39. The Pirates held CUC to 38% (14-37) from the floor after halftime and only 13% (2-15) from beyond the arc. Ben Bishop's free throws gave Whitworth its first 20-point lead (99-78) and Garrett Paxton's basket extended the advantage to 120-90 with 6:45 to go. Rowan Anderson scored the bucket that broke the record with 5:44 to play in the game.
"Playing defense always includes a feeling-out process," Logie said. "We'd like to start a little stronger defensively, but its good when we can make adjustments as the game goes along."
Six Pirates reached double figures in scoring, led by College's 28 points. Jordan Lester added a season-high 21 and made it a double-double with 10 rebounds. Kyle Roach scored 18 and Jared Christy finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and a team-high seven assists. Sam Lees and Hernandez scored 12 and 10 points off the bench, respectively. Whitworth dominated the boards (52-28) and set another school record for free throws made (40) and attempted (49) in a game. The Pirates finished the game 47-78 (60.3%) from the floor.
Pelissier, a Puyallup, Washington native, led the Cougars with 26 points and nine rebounds. CUC had four players in double figures, including Landon Gladney's double-double of 16 points and 10 boards. The Cougars went 35-75 (46.7%) from the floor.
Whitworth is off until December 29th and 30th when the Pirates travel to Las Vegas for the D3hoops.com Classic and games against Johns Hopkins and Emory & Henry.