SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth withstood a stiff challenge from visiting Lewis & Clark to win 90-87 on Saturday night and clinched a share of the 2022 Northwest Conference men's basketball championship.
The NWC regular season title is the 11th for the Bucs since 2010. The Pirates (20-4 overall, 13-3 NWC) also clinched their 16th straight 20-win season to extend the longest streak in school history. Maintaining the streak is another accomplishment for seniors Liam Fitzgerald Miguel Lopez, Garrett Paxton and Jordan Lester.
Whitworth will host co-champion Pacific Lutheran (18-7, 13-3) in one semifinal next Thursday (7:00 pm). Linfield (18-6, 13-3) earns the top seed based on a head-to-head tiebreaker against both Whitworth and PLU. The Wildcats will host 4th-seeded Whitman (11-13, 9-7) in the other semifinal.
The NWC has its first three-way championship tie since 1987.
Lewis & Clark (10-14, 4-12) hung right with the Pirates in the first half as Brenden Patrick and Ryan Cibull combined to go 5-8 from three-point range. Fitzgerald hit a three-pointer to give Whitworth a 32-25 lead with just over five minutes left, but the Pioneers fought back to go up 41-38 on a pair of free throws by Cibull. The Pirates forged a 41-41 tie when Jojo Anderson converted a three-point play in the final minute.
Whitworth appeared to take control by scoring the first seven points of the second half, including five by Lopez. After L&C pulled back within 62-59 on a jumper by Patrick with 11:18 left, the Pirates built the advantage up to 72-61 on another Fitzgerald three-pointer with 7:48 to go. The Pioneers continued to fight and closed to within 83-80 on a three-point play by Jayden Simpson with 1:45 left. Lopez answered with a basket on the next possession and Whitworth made 5-6 from the free throw line in the final 40 seconds to secure the win. Patrick made a basket at the buzzer to get his team within three at the end.
Lopez led the Pirates with 22 points, while Jake Holtz had 21 off the bench. Both were 9-12 from the field. JT McDermott finished with 15 points and Fitzgerald had 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Anderson dished six assists to go with seven points off the bench. Whitworth made 60.7% (34-56) of its shots, despite going only 4-14 (28.6%) from three-point range.
Cibull scored a game-high 32 points, 18 in the second half, for L&C. He finished 7-13 from beyond the arc and was 10-19 from the floor overall. He was also 5-5 at the free throw line. Patrick added 20 points while Simpson had 15 and six boards.