SPOKANE, Wash. – George Valle's fifth double-double of the season helped lift 5th-ranked Whitworth to an 83-67 win over visiting George Fox in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game on Friday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The Pirates improved to 21-1 overall and 12-1 in the NWC after rallying from an early 11-point deficit.
George Fox (6-16 overall, 3-10 NWC) came out on fire, hitting five early three-pointers to take a 21-10 lead just over six minutes into the contest. Mason Green-Richards and Jonathan Doutt each had two of those early treys. But Whitworth answered with an 18-1 run over the next seven minutes, going up 28-22 on Christian Jurlina's jumper. The Pirates would eventually lead 46-35 at the break as Drew Sears closed the first half with a dunk for the Bucs.
Whitworth made 50% (16-32) of its shots in the first half while the Bruins made 41% (13-32) from the field.
The Pirates quickly began to stretch their lead in the second half. Valle's layup capped a 10-2 run and gave Whitworth a 56-37 lead. Kyle Roach then drove for a layup to give the Pirates their largest lead of the game at 63-40. George Fox pulled back to within 67-53 on Chris Fedler's three-pointer with ten minutes to play, but that's as close as the Bruins would get until the final seconds of the game. That came after Valle had extended Whitworth's lead back to 76-55 with five minutes left.
Valle finished with 23 points, ten rebounds and five assists, while Jurlina chipped in 21 points and four steals. Roach finished with 11 points off of the bench. The Pirates finished the game with a team field goal percentage of 53.6 (30-56). But Whitworth struggled from the free throw line, making only 59% (16-27) of their freebies.
Doutt led George Fox with 18 points and four assists. Green-Richards cooled off in the second half but still finished with 11 points. Thomas Rico led the Bruins with seven rebounds.
Whitworth will play its final regular season home game of the year on Saturday night against Willamette. George Fox travels to take on Whitman College in Walla Walla.