SPOKANE, Wash. – All five starters scored in double figures as third-ranked Whitworth pulled away for a 75-58 win over visiting Puget Sound in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference men's basketball tournament on Thursday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The Pirates improved to 25-1 and gave themselves a chance to claim their tenth consecutive NWC tournament championship on Saturday night. Whitworth will host Pacific Lutheran in the NWC Final after the Lutes upset 9th-ranked Whitman in Walla Walla.
Junior center Drew Sears established himself from the first moments of the game, winning the tip, scoring the first basket and blocking one of the first shots. He led the Pirates with 16 points and added six rebounds and four blocks.
Christian Jurlina added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Pirates, while 2016 NWC MVP George Valle contributed 10 points, nine boards and six assists. Kenny Love scored a dozen and Matt Staudacher finished with 11 for the Bucs.
"Our guys shared the ball really well tonight and we focused on ball reversal and being aggressive offensively," said Whitworth head coach Matt Logie.
Carlos Mancasola totaled 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Puget Sound (13-13), while Kohl Meyer added 10 points. But the Loggers were held to only 32.3% shooting field the field, including only 30% (9-30) in the first half as the Pirates took a 40-26 lead into the locker rooms.
"We had a more concerted effort to defend the three-point line tonight," Logie said while referencing last Friday's close two-point win over Puget Sound in Tacoma. "A big part of that was Drew 's ability to defend the rim, which freed up our guards to defend aggressively on the perimeter."
The Loggers led only once in the game when Andre Lewis hit a three to give them an early 5-4 advantage. But Love answered with a three for the Pirates and Whitworth never trailed again.
After falling behind by 14 points at halftime, Puget Sound did pull back within nine when Timmy Saunders drained a three to make the score 42-33 2:30 into the second half. But the Pirates got back-to-back baskets from Love and Staudacher and never led by less than double digits the rest of the way.
Valle's ten points tonight give him 1,404 for his career and moved him into seventh place on Whitworth's all-time scoring list.
In Saturday's NWC Final Whitworth will play PLU for the second time at home this season and the third time overall. While the Pirates defeated the Lutes 93-62 at home on January 22nd, they had to survive a 73-71 victory last weekend in Parkland.
PLU earned its way to the final by knocking off Whitman 82-68, the team's second win of the season over the Missionaries in Walla Walla. The Lutes will be making their first appearance in the NWC tournament final since 1998.