SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitman College used a 20-3 run midway through the second half to take control of the Northwest Conference men's basketball tournament championship game, defeating Whitworth 86-80 on Saturday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The Blues (20-7), the tournament's #3 seed, claim the NWC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. The field will be announced on Monday morning at 9:30 am (PST).
Ben College did everything he could for the top-seeded Pirates (21-6), scoring a game-high 33 points in what might be his final contest in a Whitworth uniform. The Bucs must hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA post-season.
Whitman jumped out to a 9-2 lead on Darne Duckett's three-pointer, signaling the kind of game the Blues' junior guard would have in this game. Whitman still led 13-6 after Jaron Kirkley's basket before Whitworth got going from three-point range. Reed Brown's three pulled the Bucs within one and Garrett Paxton's trey gave the Pirates their first lead (15-14). Consecutive baskets by Duckett and Kirkley gave the Blues a 26-23 lead before Whitworth used an 11-0 run, sparked by two straight College three-pointers, to go up 34-26. College hit a jumper in the final seconds to give the Pirates a 41-33 lead at the break.
Whitman opened the second half with a 7-0 run to get within one point. The Bucs answered and went back up 47-40 on a College trey. Whitworth still led 52-45 after a layup by Isaiah Hernandez. That was when the Blues used their big run to take control. Andrew Vickers paired two three-pointers around Bryce Mulder's dunk to give the Blues the lead. By the time Vickers closed the run with a three-point play and another three-point shot, Whitman had gone ahead 65-55 with just under ten minutes to play.
College stopped the run with a four-point play, and the Bucs got within 71-69 after a three-pointer by Liam Fitzgerald. Whitworth got consecutive stops, but could not get a tying bucket and Trevor Osborne hit a three-pointer to stem the tide. Whitman led 83-77 with less than a minute to play when College was fouled shooting a three-pointer. He hit all three shots, but the Pirates could not score again. Duckett iced the game with a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left.
College made 7-12 from beyond the arc and ended up tying Whitworth's single-season record for three-pointers with 92. He also surpassed 1,800 career points and now has 1,806. He is one point behind Whitworth Hall of Famer Rod McDonald for second place on the Pirate's all-time scoring list.
Sam Lees and Garrett Hull each scored 11 points, and Lees led the Bucs with eight rebounds. Hernandez finished with 10 points and four assists. Fitzgerald scored all nine of his points in the second half, all on three-pointers.
Whitworth just missed season-highs in three-pointers and three-point attempts, finishing 15-33 (45.5%) from beyond the arc. But the NWC's best rebounding team this season suffered a 42-28 deficit on the boards to the Blues.
Duckett led Whitman with 31 points, while Vickers scored 24 and Kirkley added 18. Robert Colten had 12 rebounds, while Duckett and Vickers added eight apiece.