McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Tenth-ranked Whitworth completed a weekend road sweep with a dominating 90-57 win at Linfield in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game on Saturday night at Ted Wilson Gym.
The Pirates won their sixth straight to improve to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the NWC after claiming road victories at Lewis & Clark on Friday night and at Linfield on Saturday. The Wildcats fell to 3-2, 1-1.
Michael Taylor (Brewster) led Whitworth with 20 points and the Pirates held the NWC's most efficient offense to less than 40% shooting from the field.
Whitworth never trailed, jumping to a quick 12-4 lead after three-point plays by Felix Friedt and Clay Gebbers and a three-point shot by Wade Gebbers. The Pirates continued to stretch the lead throughout the half, grabbing a 30-9 lead on a pair of free throws by Friedt and eventually going to halftime with a 39-14 advantage following a three-pointer by Jack Loofburrow. While Whitworth only shot 34% (11-32) in the half, the Pirates held the Wildcats to 21% (5-24) and held a 26-16 rebounding advantage.
Linfield was never able to make a run in the second half and the Pirates continued to stretch the lead throughout, eventually building a 41-point lead (78-37) with less than seven minutes to play.
Whitworth took advantage of the Wildcats' frustration, drawing fouls throughout the game and hitting 36-46 (78%) free throws. Both the number made and attempted are season-highs. The Pirates finished with a 40-27 edge on the boards.
Friedt added 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Bucs, while David Riley had 14 points and Wade Gebbers finished with ten points.
K.C. Wiser, who came into the weekend as the NWC's leading scorer at 27.3 points per game, was held to 13 points on 3-8 shooting. He also led the Wildcats with seven rebounds.
Linfield came into the game as the conference leader in field goal efficiency, but was held to 37.5% (18-48) for the game.
Whitworth will return to non-conference play throughout the rest of December, beginning with a game next Friday against UC Santa Cruz at 6:00 p.m. in the Fieldhouse.