WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Whitman College men’s basketball team plays host to its cross-town rival and two teams from the Cascade Collegiate Conference at this week’s 11th annual Wildhorse Resort Classic.
The tournament gets underway Saturday, Nov. 26, with two games in Sherwood Center on the Whitman campus. Walla Walla College plays Eastern Oregon University at 6 p.m., followed by an 8 p.m. match-up between Whitman and the University of Concordia-Portland.
On Sunday, Walla Walla College returns to its home floor in nearby College Place to play its second tournament game, doing battle with Concordia at 6 p.m. The tournament finale is set for 8 p.m. Sunday in Sherwood Center, with Whitman squaring off with Eastern Oregon.
An all-tournament team will be announced following the Whitman-Eastern Oregon game.
Admission prices for the games at Whitman are $5 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and $1 for students. Whitman students, staff and faculty, and their families, are admitted at no charge.
Both Walla Walla College and Eastern Oregon have been frequent participants in the Wildhorse tournament. The WWC Wolves have played in all but two of the previous 10 tournaments, while the EOU Mountaineers will be making their fourth appearance. This will be the first appearance for the Concordia Cavaliers.
With coach Skip Molitor at the helm, Whitman opened its season last Sunday with a 70-67 victory over visiting Montana Tech. Erik Kofler, a Walla Walla native and 6-foot-8 senior post, sparked Whitman’s victory with 19 points, 11 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Greg Ricker, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, added 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Guards Ian Warner and Matt Kelly (also a Walla Walla native) chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
For a season preview on the Whitman men’s team, please click here.
Concordia, which is averaging 93.2 points per game, enters the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record. Eastern Oregon is off to a 3-2 start while averaging 84 points an outing. Walla Walla is 4-3 with a scoring average of 92.2 point per game. Profiles on all three teams follow:
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Led by coach Jimmy Hill, a standout at Whitman in the late 1990s, Walla Walla College enjoyed its best season in school history a year ago. The Wolves earned a spot at the 2005 National Christian College Athletic Association’s national tournament, where they placed fourth. This season, they start four seniors and a sophomore who all played at the national tournament.
Jeremy Claridge, an athletic 6-foot-7 senior forward and College Place native, was an NCCAA First-Team All-American a year ago. Claridge is averaging 14.3 points and 6.0 rebounds to start the new season.
Ryan Wilson, a 6-foot-8 sophomore post, and Allen Krause, a three-starter at small forward, join Claridge along the frontline. Wilson is averaging 12.0 rebounds and 11.8 points, while Krause is contributing 11.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.
Meanwhile, the backcourt is well stocked with seniors Mark McEowen, a three-year starter at point guard, and Ashton Bartlett, another veteran with proven scoring abilities. McEowen is averaging 11.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists. Bartlett, scoring 10.1 points per game to start the season, gives the Wolves a fifth starter in double figures.
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After opening its season with an overtime loss at Montana Western, Eastern Oregon has won three of its last four games. Two of those victories came at the expense of Montana Tech, a team Whitman downed last Sunday.
The Mountaineers, much improved from a season ago, come to the Wildhorse tournament with four players scoring in double figures. Maurice Thomas, a 5-foot-11 senior point guard, leads the way, averaging 17.2 points per game while shooting 54.5 percent. Chad Fairbanks, a 6-foot-6 senior post, and Tanner McIntosh, a 6-foot-7 freshman wing, are both scoring 13.2 points per game. Fairbanks is grabbing a team-leading 6.4 rebounds per game, while McIntosh has made an incredible 69.4 percent of his field goal attempts.
Eric Orton, a 6-foot-4 senior wing, is contributing 10.4 points per game to the Mountaineer attack. Six-foot-five sophomore wing Mark Carollo (8.6 ppg) and 6-foot-6 junior post Kyle Janke (7.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg) have also been early season impact players.
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Concordia, which opened its season with a 109-21 victory over an obviously out-manned Trinity Lutheran College, also has a pair of victories over Northwest Christian College as part of its 5-0 start.
Michael Lay, a 5-foot-9 senior point guard, leads the Cavalier offense, averaging 17.4 points and six-plus assists per game. Alex Hartman, a 6-foot-6 junior forward, adds 14.6 points and five-plus rebounds. Bobby Lester, a 6-foot-8 junior post, is a force in the paint, averaging 12.2 points and six rebounds.
Other key players for the Cavaliers include Ernie Rama, a 5-foot-11 junior guard who also scores in double figures, and 6-foot-4 sophomore forward Cody Aker, one of the team's leading rebounders.
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information
509 527-5902;
holden@whitman.edu