SPOKANE, Wash. – Christian Jurlina scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the first half as 17th-ranked Whitworth cruised to a 103-49 win over visiting D'Youville College in the men's basketball season opener for both schools.
The Pirates shot 52.7% from the field and gave the 1240 fans in attendance an extra treat by hitting their ninth three-pointer with five minutes left in the first half, leading to a free sandwich courtesy of Arby's. Whitworth would finish the game 15-35 (42.9%) from beyond the arc.
"I was really pleased with our effort tonight," said head coach Matt Logie. "Our intensity level never dipped, allowing our guys off of the bench to come in and be productive."
The Pirates never trailed, quickly opening a double-digit lead on the way to a 54-18 advantage at halftime. Kionte Brown's three-pointer gave the Bucs a 16-5 lead and Derek Isaak's trey extended the advantage to 27-7. Matt Staudacher hit a short jumper to stretch the first half lead to 46-16.
Whitworth's lead hit 50 points (71-20) early in the second half and extended to as much as 57 late in the game.
Every player on the Pirate roster appeared in the game for extended minutes. Fourteen of the 16 players scored.
Jurlina made 9-16 from the field in the game. He was 8-14 in the big first half, including 4-9 from three-point range. He also tied for the team high with eight rebounds.
Kionte Brown scored 14 points for the Bucs, while George Valle had ten points and six assists. Whitworth dominated both sides of the floor, outrebounding the Spartans 50-26 and dishing 31 assists. The only downside was 13 turnovers.
"I love the fact that we had so many assists," Logie said. "But we need to be more disciplined with ball control."
Marcus Clarke had 20 points for D'Youville, while Nate Sweetman chipped in with eight. The Spartans made only 14-52 shots from the floor (26.9%), including 3-18 (16.7%) from three-point range.
D'Youville, making its first-ever trip to Washington, will conclude the trip with a game at Whitman on Sunday afternoon.
Whitworth will host Rutgers-Newark on Thursday in its next game.