SPOKANE, Wash. – Ben College drained six three-pointers and scored a game-high 22 points to lead Whitworth to a 96-73 win over visiting Trinity in the finale of the Whitworth Tip Off Classic presented by Quality Inn Oakwood on Saturday night.
The Pirates (2-0) made 17 of 34 from beyond the arc to run away from the Tigers (0-2).
Trinity took its only lead of the game at 5-4 when Ben Hanley hit a layup three and a half minutes into the game. When Whitworth hit three three-pointers in a row, including a pair by College, the Pirates grabbed their first double-digit lead at 22-10. They never led by less than ten the rest of the way. Chewy Zevenbergen's free throw gave the Bucs their first 20-point lead (34-14) with 8:27 to go in the first half. Another College trey stretched the margin to 54-25 before Trinity closed to within 54-31 at halftime.
Another Hanley basket at the start of the second half cut the margin to 21 points (54-23), but that's as close as Trinity would get. An Isaiah Hernandez three-pointer gave Whitworth its first 30-point margin (68-38) five minutes into the second half. The Pirates eventually led by as many as 37 points (96-59) late in the game on Jacob Hjort's first career three-pointer. The Tigers scored the final 14 points of the game after both teams emptied the bench.
Whitworth made 56.9% (37-65) from the field and had 19 assists. The Pirates also had a 42-30 edge on the boards.
College led a group of five players in double figures for Whitworth. Garrett Paxton came off the bench for 14, while Hernandez scored 13 and Jordan Lester had 12. Liam Fitzgerald added 11 points off the bench. Lester led Whitworth with seven boards and five assists.
David Nickell and Luke Steward led Trinity with 11 points apiece. The Tigers shot 39.4% from the field, but were 8-16 from three-point range, 5-8 in the second half.
Whitworth will host Cal Lutheran next Thursday in its next game.