With Chris Faidley scoring six points and Graham Brewer adding four more, Whitman sliced its deficit to just two points with 3:32 left in Saturday night's season-ending basketball game with George Fox in Newberg, Ore. But the Missionaries missed their next three shots and committed two turnovers as the Bruins put the finishing touches on a 72-65 Northwest conference victory.
Whitman (5-19, 1-15), which lost to the Bruins in double-overtime last month in Walla Walla, trailed for most of the first half and down 33-27 at the break. George Fox (9-16, 5-11) stretched its lead to 13 points early in the second stanza before the Missionaries made their run.
Following a Brewer layin, Faidley was fouled on a 3-point attempt and cashed in all three free throws. After Brewer hit a jumper, Faidley completed a three-point play in the paint to pull Whitman to within 57-55 with more than three minutes left. But as the Missionary offense started to falter, George Fox scored the game's next eight points to regain a double-digit lead, 65-55, with just a minute left.
Faidley, the NWC scoring leader this season, led all scorers Saturday with 27 points. The junior guard made 12 of his 14 free throw attempts and was the only Whitman to make an appearance at the charity stripe. Brewer, a sophomore post, made six of his 11 shots from the floor while collecting 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Freshman forward Max Adcox also grabbed eight boards, and sophomore guard Jordan Wheeler contributed eight points and three assists.
Garth Brandal, the lone senior on Whitman's roster, scored six points in his final game, hitting three of his six field goal attempts. A two-year starter, Brandal finished his Whitman career with 534 points, 179 rebounds and 148 assists.
The Missionaries shot 56.5 percent from the floor in the second half, and 51.1 percent for the game, but were outrebounded 39-31 and hurt by 15 turnovers. George Fox also did plenty of damage from the 3-point line, making 10 of 25 shots.
Faidley, the first Whitman player to score more than 500 points in a single season in nearly two decades, finished with 538 points. That increases his three-year point total to 1,209, which moves him into the 10th spot on Whitman's all-time career scoring list. His 27 points Saturday moved him past 1995 graduate Brian Lewallen (1,183), 1975 graduate Scott Miille (1,199) and 1955 graduate Don Robinson (1,205).
Box scoreDown by 20 points midway through the second half, the Whitman men's basketball team made a spirited comeback bid before Whitworth pulled away in the final minutes for a 73-61 Northwest Conference victory Tuesday night in Spokane, Wash.
The victory moves Whitworth (18-6 overall, 11-3 NWC) into sole possession of first place in the conference standings, a half game ahead of Puget Sound (17-5, 10-4). The Pirates play their final regular season game on Friday against George Fox (8-15, 4-10) in Newberg, Ore. Meanwhile, Puget Sound finishes at home this weekend against Lewis & Clark (14-8, 8-6) and Willamette (11-12, 9-5).
Whitman, trailing by 10 points at Tuesday's intermission, made a brief run early in the second half, getting a 3-pointer from sophomore Jordan Brandon at the 17:33 mark to pull within seven points at 33-26. That deficit ballooned over the next seven minutes, however, as Whitworth pieced together a 22-9 run that produced a 55-35 cushion with 10:43 left.
Whitman (5-18, 1-14) kept chipping away and got back to within striking distance. Two jumpers by sophomore Graham Brewer, sandwiched between a 3-pointer and four free throws by junior Chris Faidley, sliced Whitman's deficit to 59-46 with 7:56 left. After sophomore Jordan Wheeler scored inside, Faidley added four more free throws and assisted on junior Brendan Ziegler's 3-pointer as the Missionaries found themselves within striking range at 65-55 with 4:36 left.
Brewer blocked Whitworth's next field goal attempt, and freshman Max Adcox was there for the rebound when the Pirates failed to convert a second-chance opportunity. But with the ball and a chance to draw closer, Whitman's next possession was lost to an illegal screen call by one of the officials. The Pirates then scored the next three baskets to put the game out of reach.
Brewer, who made eight of his 11 shots from the floor, finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Faidley notched his sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 assists. Adcox also grabbed seven boards for the Missionaries while scoring five points on two-of-three shooting.
Faidley has posted five of his six double-doubles against NWC opponents. Only Whitworth senior forward Colin Willemsen, who has six double-doubles during the conference season, has more doubles against NWC opposition. Willensen has nine double-doubles on the season.
Faidley, who leads the conference in scoring at 22.2 points per game, increased his season scoring total in Tuesday's game to 511 points. He is the first Whitman player to top 500 points in a season since Bill Hill, as a senior in 1991-92, scored 507 points in 26 games.
With one game left in his junior season, Faidley has scored 1,182 points, which ranks him 13th on Whitman's career scoring list. With two points in Saturday's season finale at George Fox, he will move past 1995 graduate Brian Lewallen into 12th place. With 24 points on Saturday, he will crack the top 10, moving past 1955 graduate Don Robinson.
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With Whitman trailing Pacific Lutheran by five points with six minutes left, Chris Faidley drilled three 3-pointers and then hit the clinching free throws in the waning seconds to lift the young Missionaries to a 75-71 triumph -- their first Northwest Conference victory of the season -- Saturday night in Sherwood Center.
Faidley, a 6-foot-2 junior guard and the NWC's scoring leader, posted his fifth double-double of the season with 26 points and 10 rebounds. He had the same number of points and rebounds with two of his previous double-doubles.
Faidley, who was seven of 15 from the 3-point line, had plenty of help with all five Whitman starters scoring in double figures. Sophomore Graham Brewer had a huge game in the paint, ripping off 14 rebounds while blocking three shots and scoring 10 points.
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Sophomores Jordan Wheeler and Jordan Brandon added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Wheeler also handed out six assists, and freshman Max Adcox chipped in with 13 points, hitting four of five shots from the floor, including both of his 3-point attempts.
Josh Dressler led Pacific Lutheran (10-12, 6-8) with 19 points, five rebounds and four assists. Scott McDaniels added 12 points and nine boards, and Gabe Smith had 10 points.
Whitman (5-17, 1-13), which led by as many as 13 points in the first half, rallied after falling behind 62-57 with 7:45 left in the game. After Wheeler hit one of two free throws, Faidley drilled back-to-back 3-pointers, the second one falling from NBA range, to give the Missionaries a 63-62 lead with 5:26 remaining. PLU's Landon Heidenreich countered with a two-point jumper, but Faidley struck again from the 3-point stripe for a 66-64 Whitman lead at the 3:45 mark.
Adcox nailed another Missionary 3-pointer, Wheeler made a pair of free throws and Brewer scored inside off a Faidley lob to extend Whitman's lead to 73-68 with just over a minute left on the clock. Smith gave the Lutes a final chance, hitting a 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining.
With its lead down to two and the shot clock ready to blare, Wheeler drew iron with a long 3-pointer. Brewer grabbed the miss and got the ball to Faidley, who was fouled with six seconds left. Faidley, an 80 percent free throw shooter this season, made both freebies to push the Missionary lead to 75-71. Heidenreich missed a long 3-point shot in the closing seconds, setting off an understandable Whitman celebration.
Garth Brandal, the lone senior on Whitman's roster, missed his final home game with the flu.
Whitman finishes its season next week with two games on the road, starting with a Tuesday date at Whitworth in Spokane. Pacific Lutheran hosts a pair of games next week, starting with Linfield on Friday night.
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Puget Sound retained sole possession of first place in the Northwest Conference men's basketball standings with a 104-67 Northwest Conference men's basketball victory over Whitman College Friday night in Sherwood Center.
Puget Sound (17-4, 10-3) heads to Spokane on Saturday for a showdown with second-place Whitworth, which ran its NWC record to 9-4 (16-6 overall) by beating Pacific Lutheran tonight. Whitman (4-17, 0-13) stays at home Saturday to host Pacific Lutheran at 6 p.m.
Staying close for Friday's first 10 minutes, Whitman was down by just four points, 20-16, when freshman Max Adcox hit a jumper with 9:34 left in the half. That's when the Loggers uncorked a 19-2 scoring spurt over the next two-plus minutes to vault into a 39-18 lead. Jason Foster sparked the run with three 3-point bombs.
Sophomore Graham Brewer's 3-point play in the paint, followed by an Adcox strike from the 3-point arc, trimmed Whitman's deficit to 13 points, 39-26, with 5:17 left in the half. Whitman's Jordan Wheeler and Puget Sound's Steffond Brown traded 3-pointers, but the Loggers then stretched their advantage back to 21 points by the break.
Puget Sound scored first to open the second half, extending its lead to 61-38. After Adcox drilled another 3-pointer, senior Garth Brandal and Brewer combined for eight points as Whitman pulled to within 63-49 with 16:30 left to play. The Missionaries again trailed by 14, 65-51, after Chris Faidley's layin at the 15:14 mark, but the Loggers responded over the next five minutes with an 18-5 run that ended any remaining suspense.
Foster, Brown and Antwan Williams each scored 18 points to power the Logger offense. Brown was especially deadly from the 3-point line, making six of seven. Williams handed out a game-high seven assists as Puget Sound shot 53.4 percent from the floor for the game. Robert Kraul and Kevin Wright added 10 points apiece, and a total of 13 Loggers found their into the scoring column.
Brandal, the only senior on Whitman's roster, made eight of his 13 shots from the floor to pace the Missionaries with a season-high 18 points. Brewer, who was six of eight from the floor and four of four from the free throw line, finished with 16 points and five rebounds. Adcox, who grabbed six boards, was six of nine from floor in scoring a career-high 14 points. Junior Chris Faidley was good for eight points, six rebounds and six assists.
Box scoreA quick start went for naught as the Whitman men's basketball dropped a 67-51 Northwest Conference decision to Lewis & Clark Saturday night in Portland, Ore.
Garth Brandal's 3-pointer with 14:42 left in the first half staked Whitman (4-16, 0-12) to an early 13-6 lead. But Lewis & Clark (13-7, 7-5) reeled off 18 unanswered points over the next seven minutes to jump in front 25-13. Whitman countered with a 12-4 run of its own, drawing to within 29-25 with 4:34 left in the half, but the Pioneers extended their edge to 37-28 at the break.
Lewis & Clark then opened the second half on a 7-0 run and eventually extended their lead to as many as 25 points.
Brandal, who made seven of 13 shots from the floor, led Whitman with 16 points. Graham Brewer grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go with eight points. Chris Faidley had 10 points, five boards and five assists.
Box scoreAn 11-3 scoring spurt early in the second half carried Pacific to a 66-53 Northwest Conference men's basketball victory over Whitman Friday night in Forest Grove, Ore.
With Whitman (4-15, 0-11) trailing 34-28 at halftime, Garth Brandal's layin early in the second stanza reduced the Missionary deficit to just four points. Over the next five minutes, however, the Boxers stretched their lead into double digits, taking a 45-33 advantage with 13:39 left on the clock.
After Pacific's lead ballooned to 56-41 with eight minutes remaining, buckets by Jordan Brandon and Max Adcox got Whitman back to within nine points with 5:27 left. But the two sides traded hoops for the next few minutes and the Boxers padded the final margin of victory in the closing minute.
Chris Faidley with 17 points was the only Missionary scoring in double figures. Brandal was four of eight from the floor and scored nine points. Max Adcox, a freshman, had a solid night with nine points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots.
Garold Howe paced Pacific (7-13, 5-6) with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Donnie Harrison-Davis added 16 points and Joe Van Domelen had 14.
Whitman fell behind 22-10 midway through the first half, but Graham Brewer scored inside and Brendan Ziegler drained a 3-pointer to spark a 15-5 Whitman run. Brandal and Adcox capped the outburst, hitting back-to-back threes to slash the Boxer lead to two points, 27-25, with 3:40 left in the half. Pacific scored seven of the next eight points, but Faidley's two free throws kept Whitman close heading to the second half.
Whitman plays Saturday night at Lewis & Clark in Portland.
Box scoreLinfield opened the second half on a 14-5 run and held off a spirited Whitman rally to escape with an 83-76 Northwest Conference men's basketball victory Saturday night in Sherwood Center.
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Steve Taylor, one of four Wildcats to score in double figures, paced Linfield (11-8, 6-4) with 18 points on eight-of-12 shooting from the floor.
Chris Faidley, one of four Missionaries in double-digit scoring, led all scorers with 25 points and added six assists and five rebounds. Whitman (4-14, 0-10) led for much of the first half and trailed by one at the break.
Linfield nailed a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half, pulling away to a 56-46 lead in the first five minutes. Down 71-61 with seven minutes left in the game, Whitman ripped off an 11-0 run over two minutes to seize a 72-71 edge at the 5:23 mark. Faidley, a junior guard who leads the NWC in scoring, was a force during the spurt, hitting a deep 3 and scoring six points while grabbing two rebounds and handing out two assists.
The Wildcats regained the lead on K.C. Wiser's free throw and baskets by Drew Schroeder and Steve Taylor. Graham Brewer's basket with 3:04 left on the clock brought Whitman to within 76-74, but Wiser answered with a hoop at the other end and Linfield hit a handful of free throws down the stretch.
Both teams shots well from the floor with Whitman holding a slight edge, 55.6 to 55 percent. Linfield made eight of 17 shots from 3-point stripe and outrebounded Whitman by a 29-26 edge.
Others scoring in double figures for Linfield were Brian Murphy with 13, Joel Paul with 11 and Cody Tesoro with 10. Erik Olson and Wiser added nine points each.
Jordan Wheeler, a sophomore guard, made six of nine shots from the floor while scoring 16 points for Whitman. Brewer, a sophomore post, added 14 points and five boards. Both Brewer and Faidley blocked a pair of shots.
Garth Brandal, the only senior on Whitman's roster, had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Whitman led for much of the first half, twice by five points. The Missionaries led 19-14 when Faidley converted a three-point play at the 10:48 mark and 24-19 when he popped a jumper with 8:50 remaining in the half. The opening 20 minutes of action, which featured a dozen tie scores, ended with Linfield in front 42-41 after Taylor's jumper fell with 37 seconds left.
Whitman travels to western Oregon next weekend, playing NWC games at Pacific University (Forest Grove) on Friday and at Lewis & Clark (Portland) on Saturday. Linfield hosts Puget Sound on Friday and plays at George Fox on Saturday.
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Mike Smith scored 22 points and Kyler McClary added 18 to power Willamette to a 78-66 Northwest Conference victory over Whitman Friday night in Sherwood Center. Willamette (7-11, 5-4), which led 35-33 at halftime, shot 53.1 percent from the floor for the game and outrebounded the Missionaries 32-22.
Chris Faidley, a junior guard, combined 20 points with six rebounds, four assists and two steals to pace Whitman (4-13, 0-9). The Missionaries also got 16 points from Jordan Wheeler and 11 more from Garth Brandal, the only senior on the roster.
Wheeler's 3-pointer nine seconds into the second half gave Whitman a momentary 36-35 lead, but Corey Constantino and Mike Smith responded with back-to-back treys to put Willamette back in front to stay. Still, the game stayed close for several minutes. Faidley's free throw had Whitman within two, 50-48, with 12:06 left, and freshman Max Adcox connected from the 3-point stripe with 10:03 remaining to slice the Bearcat advantage to 56-53.
After Smith countered with two buckets, one of them a 3-pointer, Cameron Mitchell added a jumper and two free throws as Willamette regained control, moving in front 65-53 with 7:24 left on the clock. Two Faidley free throws with 1:40 remaining cut the Bearcat cushion to 71-65, but Willamette wrapped up the victory with charity tosses over the final minute.
Constantino tallied 12 points for Willamette and Mitchell had eight. Adcox and sophomore post Graham Brewer scored eight points apiece for Whitman.
Whitman opened the game by scoring four of the first six points, but Willamette raced away to a 16-8 lead. Faidley and Adcox capped a Missionary rally, drilling consecutive 3-pointers to put the home team on top 27-25 with 7:29 left in the half. After Faidley's layin at the 1:52 mark gave Whitman 33-31 edge, Willamette's Tain Cantrell scored the last two buckets to give the Bearcats their two-point lead the break.
Whitman stays at home to host Linfield at 6 p.m. Saturday. Willamette is in Spokane on Saturday to play Whitworth at 8 p.m.
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With Chris Faidley scoring 28 points and Brendan Ziegler adding 15 points off the bench, Whitman downed the University of California-Santa Cruz 75-64 in a non-conference basketball action Saturday night in Sherwood Center.
Beating the Banana Slugs for the second time this season, Whitman raised its overall record to 4-12. UC-Santa Cruz, an NCAA Div. III independent, fell to 2-17 on the season.
Whitman led 32-29 at the break, but UC-Santa Cruz bagged the first two buckets of the second half to take its final lead of the night at 33-32. Jordan Wheeler and Graham Brewer countered with a pair of hoops, and Faidley connnected from the 3-point stripe to give the Missionaries the lead for good at 39-35.
The Banana Slugs closed to within 46-44 with 10:49 left, but Ziegler answered with a 3-pointer, triggering a 14-4 run that had Whitman on top 60-48 with 6:16 remaining. The visitors drew no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Faidley, who entered the game averaging a Northwest Conference-leading 24.2 points per game, enjoyed a fine night at the free throw line, making 15 of 16 charity tosses. He also drilled three 3-pointers and handed out three assists.
Ziegler connected on four of six 3-point attempts and scored 15 points to go with five rebounds. Wheeler added nine points, and Garth Brandal, the only senior on Whitman's roster, chipped in with eight points and seven assists. Graham Brewer, a 6-foot-9 sophomore post, pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and blocked two shots.
Whitman hit 60 percent of its shots in the second half and finished at 50 percent for the game.
Ryan Matsuoka scored 15 points to lead the Banana Slugs. Greg Palmer had 12 points and Jon Morrison added 10.
Whitman returns to Northwest Conference action next weekend when it hosts Willamette on Friday (8 p.m.) and Linfield on Saturday (6 p.m.).
Box score
Deadly 3-point shooting late in the game was the difference as George Fox outlasted Whitman 82-75 in double overtime in Northwest Conference men's basketball action Friday night in Sherwood Center.
After Jordan Wheeler made a pair of free throws, Whitman (3-12, 0-8) led 60-54 with 1:48 left in the first overtime. But Evan Atwater nailed a 3-pointer for George Fox (5-11, 1-6) on its next possession and then struck again from behind the arc with one second remaining to forge a 66-66 tie and force a second overtime.
The Bruins got another three from Travis Toedtemeir to start that second overtime, but Whitman's Chris Faidley canned a 3-pointer at the other end while being knocked to the floor. Faidley, who led all scorers with 28 points, added the free throw for a short-lived 70-69 Missionary lead.
With 1:25 left on the clock, Graham Brewer scored inside to pull Whitman into a 74-74 deadlock, the game's 13th and final tie. Assisted by Atwater, Toedtemeier countered with another 3-pointer and the Bruins pulled away over the final minute.
Brent Satern led George Fox with 21 points, five assists and four steals. Atwater added 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Bryan O'Connell was good for 15 points.
Faidley posted his fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 11 rebounds and three steals to go with his 28 points. Wheeler had 17 points and four assists, while Brewer combined 16 points with seven boards.
George Fox, which also got nine rebounds from Taylor Martin, posted a 50-37 edge on the backboards.
Neither side shot well in the first half, which ended with the Bruins on top 22-18. Whitman ripped off 14 quick points in the first three minutes of the second stanza, moving in front 32-26. Wheeler, Garth Brandal and Brendan Ziegler triggered the outburst with 3-pointers, and Faidley contributed a three-point play in the paint.
George Fox evened the score at 34 with 10:46 left in regulation and inched ahead 43-39 with just under six minutes remaining. Faidley's trey at the 4:39 mark made it 43-all, and Taylor scored inside for the Bruins with a minute left for a 47-47 standoff. Wheeler and Satern traded one free throw apiece in the closing seconds to send the game to overtime.
Two free throws each by Brandal and Wheeler, followed by Brewer's jumper, gave Whitman a six-point bulge early in the first extra session. Faidley's three-point play in the lane with 2:21 left on the clock had the Missionaries back in front by six points, 57-51. Two more Wheeler free throws stretched the Whitman lead to 60-54, setting the stage for Atwater's game-changing 3-point shots.
Whitman steps away from the NWC wars on Saturday to host the University of California-Santa Cruz in a 6 p.m. non-conference game in Sherwood Center. George Fox travels to Spokane Saturday to play Whitworth in an 8 p.m. contest.
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Winning its sixth straight game, Whitworth outscored Whitman 85-68 Tuesday night in Sherwood Center to take sole possession of first place in the Northwest Conference men's basketball standings.
Now 12-3 on the season, Whitworth improved to 6-1 in the NWC, dropping idle Puget Sound (5-1, 12-2) into second place. Whitman slipped to 3-11 overall and 0-7 in conference.
Chris Faidley's two free throws with 5:32 left in the first half gave Whitman a 29-26 lead, but Whitworth responded with two 3-pointers by David Riley and one by Ross Nakamura to jump in front 39-33 at intermission. Three more long balls to open the second half, two by Ryan Symes and one by Tim Sellereit, doubled the Pirate lead to 12 points.
Graham Brewer's 3-pointer cut Whitman's deficit to nine points, 50-41, with 17:08 left to play, but Colin Willemden's jumper pushed Whitworth's lead back into double digits, where it stayed for the rest of the night. The Pirates hit 59.3 percent of their shots in the second half and led by as many as 26 points.
Faidley led Whitman with 18 points and six rebounds. Jordan Wheeler drilled all three of his 3-point attempts and finished with 13 points. Garth Brandal, the lone senior on Whitman's roster, chipped in with 11 points and Brendan Ziegler tallied 10 off the Missionary bench.
Willemsen posted a double-double for Whitworth with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Nakamura and Symes scored 15 points apiece while Riley had 10. With Nakamura making five of eight shots from the 3-point stripe, Whitworth was 13 of 23 from long range.
Whitman stays at home Friday for an 8 p.m. NWC game with George Fox. Whitworth then hosts George Fox at the same Saturday in Spokane.
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Jordan Wheeler scored a career-high 25 points and Chris Faidley finished one assist shy of a triple-double, but it wasn't quite enough to keep Whitman from surrendering a 93-84 Northwest Conference loss to Pacific Lutheran Saturday night in Tacoma, Wash.
Whitman, which led 40-32 at halftime, saw its record tumble to 3-10 on the season and 0-6 in the NWC. The Lutes are 8-6 and 4-2.
The Missionaries, who led by as many as 13 points late in the first half, stayed in front until the Lutes uncorked a 14-4 scoring spree that produced a 54-54 deadlock with 12:44 left in the second stanza. The two sides deadlocked five more times, the last time at 69-all with 8:19 remaining. Pacific Lutheran took charge with eight unanswered points over the next four minuts as Whitman failed to convert three free throws.
Faidley's three-point play in the paint trimmed Whitman's deficit to 77-72 with 3:31 left on the clock, but that was as close as the Missionaries would come.
Pacific Lutheran shot nearly 60 percent from the floor to spark its second-half rally. Whitman also shot well from the floor, making 51.6 percent of its field goal attempts for the game, but the Missionaries made just 13 of 22 free throw attempts and lost the rebounding battle by a 43-33 margin.
Wheeler, who made eight of his nine charity tosses, drilled three of his five 3-point attempts and was seven of 12 overall from floor. The sophomore point guard also handed out five assists.
Faidley, a junior who leads the NWC in scoring and minutes played, finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. He played all but one minute of the game, making nine of 18 shots from the floor.
Graham Brewer, Whitman's 6-foot-9 sophomore post, also had a solid night with 14 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Garth Brandal, the lone Missionary senior, chipped in with eight points and four steals.
Whitman twice led by 13 points in the opening half, the first time when Faidley canned a 3-pointer for a 31-18 Missionary cushion with 6:19 left. Two minutes later, a Faidley layin had Whitman on top 33-20, and Wheeler's two free throws at the 2:14 mark gave the visitors a 38-26 edge. The Lutes closed out the half on a 6-2 run to trail by eight at halftime.
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Despite making nine of 16 shots from the 3-point line and shooting 50 percent from the floor, the Whitman men's basketball team was outscored 106-86 by high-flying Puget Sound Friday night in Tacoma, Wash.
The Loggers, ranked No. 9 nationally, topped the 100-point mark for the fifth time this winter, running their record to 12-1 on the season and 5-0 in the Northwest Conference. Whitman, with just one senior on a young roster, slipped to 3-9 overall and 0-5 in conference.
Puget Sound raced away to a 14-0 lead to start the game. Whitman countered with an 11-4 run, pulling to within seven points at 18-11 at the 13:26 mark. Jordan Wheeler's layin midway through the half whittled the Missionary deficit to 28-19, but the Loggers responded with a 17-4 outburst to blow the game open.
Down 55-33 at the break, Whitman opened the second half on a 19-11 run to trail 66-52 with 14:18 still left on the clock. A pair of 3-pointers by Brendan Ziegler, and one each by Chris Faidley and Wheeler, fueled the Missionary rally. Faidley also converted three free throws after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt.
Whitman stayed within striking distance for the next several minutes. The Missionaries were down 84-69 after Ziegler's layin with 7:21 left, but that was as close as they would get in the final minutes of play.
Faidley, the NWC's leading scorer, finished with 21 points and four rebounds to pace Whitman. Ziegler, who added a career-high 18 points in 15 minutes off the bench, was seven of 11 from floor, including four of five from the 3-point line. Whitman also got 15 points from Wheeler, 10 points from Garth Brandal and a team-high seven rebounds from Graham Brewer.
Jason Foster led Puget Sound with 29 points and 13 rebounds. Robert Krauel added 17 points as a total of 14 Loggers made it into the scoring column. Puget Sound outrebounded Whitman 50-30 and collected 16 steals while forcing 23 turnovers.
Whitman stays in Tacoma to play Pacific Lutheran on Saturday.
Box scoreLewis & Clark College erupted on a 19-2 scoring outburst midway through the second half to rally for a 76-68 Northwest Conference men's basketball victory over Whitman College Saturday night in Sherwood Center.
Lewis & Clark, improving to 8-4 on the season and 2-2 in the NWC, was trailing 48-43 with 13 minutes left in the second half. But 3-pointers by David Berggren and Tyson Papenfuss ignited a scoring run that gave the Pioneers a 62-50 lead with just under six minutes remaining.
Whitman's Chris Faidley, who led all scorers with 26 points, swished a pair of three throws with 2:39 left to cut the Missionary deficit to 70-62. But Thomas Tillery, who led Lewis & Clark's scoring with 17 points, answered 15 seconds later with a jumper and Whitman's comeback stalled.
Mark Robinowitz hit for 14 points off the Lewis & Clark bench. The Pioneers also got 10 points from Berggren and nine points apiece from Gene Rivera and Tyson Papenfuss. Rivera added a team-high seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
Faidley, a junior guard, snared a game-high 10 rebounds to post his second double-double of the season. Jordan Wheeler chipped in 14 points for the Missionaries. Garth Brandal and Graham Brewer each tallied 10 points.
Whitman led 20-12 midway through the first half, but Lewis & Clark pulled even at 25-25 with 3:01 left. Wheeler's steal with eight seconds remaining led to Faidley's buzzer-beating 3-pointer and a 36-36 Missionary lead at the break.
Jumpers by Brewer, Faidley and Wheeler staked Whitman to its 48-43 early in the second half.
Whitman hits the road next weekend, traveling to Tacoma to play Puget Sound on Friday and Pacific Lutheran on Saturday. Lewis & Clark plays at George Fox on Friday and then hosts Willamette on Saturday.
Box scorePacific University uncorked a 20-3 scoring spurt early in the first half and rolled to a 72-48 Northwest Conference men's basketball victory over Whitman Friday night in Sherwood Center.
The Boxers, who led 45-30 at halftime, improved to 3-9 on the season and 1-2 in the NWC. Whitman slipped to 3-7 overall and 0-3 in conference, falling victim to a poor shooting night. After shooting 47 percent from the floor in their first nine games, the Missionaries hit just 30.9 percent of their shots against the Boxers.
Joe Van Domelen paced Pacific with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The five Boxer starters scored all but three of Pacific's points. Also scoring in double digits were A.J. Gaulton with 15 points, Garold Howe with 14 and with 13.
Whitman's Chris Faidley, the NWC's leading scorer, managed just 10 points and four assists. Brendan Ziegler scored nine points off the bench. Garth Brandal added eight points while Graham Brewer had six points and five rebounds.
Faidley nailed a 3-pointer to start the second half to slice Whitman's deficit to 12 points. Jordan Wheeler hit back-to-back layups, the second one at the 14:18 mark, to pull the Missionaries to within 50-40 on the scoreboard. But Van Domelen responded with a pair of inside buckets and the Boxers pulled away.
Pacific, which made 54.3 percent of its shots in the first half, outrebounded Whitman 45-31. The Boxers made eight of their 15 3-point attempts, including six of nine in the first half. Gaulton and Harrison-Davis did most of the long-range damage, combining to make seven of 10 shots from the 3-point arc.
Whitman also connected on eight 3-point shots, getting two each from Faidley, Brandal and Ziegler.
Whitman stays at home Saturday to host Lewis & Clark at 6 p.m. in Sherwood Center. Pacific travels to Spokane, Wash., on Saturday to play Whitworth.
Box scoreSteve Taylor drilled a school record 10 3-pointers to shoot Linfield past Whitman 109-81 in Northwest Conference men's basketball action in McMinnville, Ore.
Linfield, improving to 7-4 on the season and 2-0 in the NWC, made 18 of 32 of its attempts from beyond the 3-point stripe. Whitman, now 3-6 and 0-2, shot 50 percent from the floor for the game but couldn't keep pace with the Wildcat offensive onslaught.
"Linfield beat (defending NWC champion) Whitworth last night, and the Wildcats were nothing short of amazing tonight," Whitman coach Skip Molitor said. "There was just no stopping them. The bucket looked awfully big on their end."
In a back-and-forth first half, Whitman led by four points on two occasions. Jordan Wheeler's jumper at the midway point had the Missionaries in front 28-24, and Jordan Brandon nailed a 3-pointer for a 31-27 lead with nine minutes left. Garth Brandal canned a jumper, was fouled and added a free throw to give the Missionaries what would be final lead of the night, 36-35, at the 7:04 mark.
Following a brief Linfield surge, Brandal scored three more baskets and Chris Faidley was good from the 3-point line to even the score at 45 with 2:24 left. But the Wildcats closed out the half on a 11-0 run to lead 56-45 at the break.
"With both of our games this weekend, we dug ourselves a big hole in the last three minutes of the first half," Molitor said. "We need to do a better job of finishing the first half, which is going to have a big impact on how we do in the second half."
Whitman trimmed its deficit to nine early in the second stanza, but Brian Murphy's 3-pointer pushed the Linfield lead back into double digits, where it stayed the rest of the game.
Faidley, who made four of his six 3-point shots, led Whitman with 20 points and five rebounds. Brandal was eight of 12 from the floor and had 17 points. The Missionaries also got 12 points from Graham Brewer and nine more from Wheeler. Brendan Ziegler added eight points off the Whitman bench.
Taylor, one of five Wildcats to score in double figures, finished with 30 points and six assists. K.C. Wiser added 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Whitman returns home next weekend for two more NWC games. The Missionaries host Pacific at 8 p.m. Friday and Lewis & Clark at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Box scoreTaking charge late in the opening half, Willamette rolled to an 86-71 Northwest Conference victory over visiting Whitman Friday night in Salem, Ore. It was the conference opener for both schools.
The first half featured seven lead changes and four ties. Whitman trailed 26-25 in the wake of Brendan Ziegler's 3-pointer with 4:39 remaining, and the Missionaries were within three points at 29-26 following a Chris Faidley free throw with four minutes left. But the Bearcats caught fire, ending the half on an 11-3 run for a 41-29 lead.
"It was Willamette's first home game of the season, and once they had some momentum and a good lead, it was hard to ruffle their feathers," Whitman coach Skip Molitor said. "Willamette isn't the kind of team that makes it easy for opponents to mount a rally."
Chris Faidley's 3-pointer early in the second half cut Whitman's deficit to nine points, but Willamette uncorked a 21-8 run over the next several minutes to grab a 62-40 lead with 12 minutes left to play. Jordan Wheeler's closed the gap to 74-63 with 4:56 remaining, but that was as close as the Missionaries would get.
Faidley led Whitman with 21 points and six rebounds. Graham Brewer used a strong second half to add 19 points, and Garth Brandal finished with 10 points.
Ian Mansfield and Mike Smith, two Willamette seniors, combined for 41 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Box scoreErasing a 12-point second-half deficit, Thompson Rivers University rode a short jumper by Drew Bleth with four seconds left in overtime to a 92-91 victory over Whitman in a Sunday afternoon exhibition game in Sherwood Center.
Chris Faidley, who paced Whitman with 29 points and 11 rebounds, hit a short baseline jumper with 30 seconds left in overtime to give the Missionaries a 91-90 lead. But Bleth, who finished with 16 points and nine assists, countered with a short jumper at the other end to lift the WolfPack to victory.
With 4.4 seconds left on the clock, Whitman got the ball just inside the half-court line where Faidley launched a desperation shot that fell well short.
Thompson Rivers (Kamloops, B.C.) improved to 4-16 on the season. The game and its statistics do not count as part of Whitman's NCAA record. The two teams last played an exhibition game on Jan. 1, 2001, with Whitman winning 81-80.
In Sunday's rematch, the WolfPack led 49-48 at halftime and were up 64-59 with 13:12 remaining in the second half. But Brendan Ziegler's 3-pointer ignited a 19-2 Whitman run that put the Missionaries in front 78-66 with eight minutes left to play. Three-pointers by Jordan Wheeler and Max Adcox capped the charge.
Whitman failed to score a bucket the rest of the way, but the Missionaries still led 81-74 when Faidley drained two free throws with 1:46 left on the clock. After Brent Traxel drilled a three-pointer and Chris Vanderweide converted two free throws, Traxel evened the game at 81 when he tipped in a missed WolfPack shot with 30 seconds left in regulation.
Whitman jumped ahead early in overtime, getting a baseline jumper from Garth Brandal and Wheeler's 3-pointer. Then, with 1:48 left, Faidley's fourth three of the night staked the Missionaries to an 89-86 lead. Geoff Matthews responded with a two-pointer for Thompson Rivers, and after Faidley's next 3-point attempt popped in and out, Vanderweide was fouled while gathering the defensive rebound. Vanderweide made both charity tosses with 48 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Faidley and Bleth to trade the final two baskets.
Wheeler, who also connected four times from the 3-point stripe, finished with 20 points and five assists. Brandal, who made three of four shots from long range, added 15 points and six assists for the Missionaries. Graham Brewer chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Bleth was one of three Thompson Rivers players to tally 16 points. Matthews combined his 16 with 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Brian Smith accounted for 16 points and seven rebounds before fouling out late in the second half. The visitors also got double-digit scoring from Connor Agnew, who drilled four 3-pointers, and from Vanderweide and Traxel, who added 11 points apiece.
Whitman, playing its first game since Dec. 16, heads into Northwest Conference play next weekend with a 3-4 season record. The Missionaries play Friday at Willamette (2-7) and Saturday at Linfield (5-4).
Box score
Chris Faidley scored 23 of his game-high 25 points in the second half as Whitman held off Montana Tech 81-75 in Sunday night's final game of the Wildhorse Resort Classic in Sherwood Center.
Whitman, improving to 3-4 on the season, led 39-36 at halftime and stayed on top for all but two possessions of the second stanza. Montana Tech's Dusan Veselinovic, a 6-foot-9 junior from Belgrade, Serbia, hit a pair of key buckets in the final minutes, one that forged a 63-63 tie and one that gave the visitors their only post-intermission lead at 68-67 with 3:54 left to play.
Faidley countered on Whitman's next trip down the floor, drawing a foul while slicing through the lane and hitting a short jumper. The three-point play put the Missionaries back in front for good, although the Orediggers by no means threw in the towel.
After Faidley's defensive rebound and a Graham Brewer free throw gave Whitman a 71-68 advantage, Jake Williams hit a jumper to cut Montana Tech's deficit to a single point with just under three minutes remaining. The Missionaries regained the momentum when Jordan Wheeler finished another three-point play in the paint and Max Adcox put back an offensive rebound.
Faidley's two free throws inflated the Whitman cushion to 78-72 with 51 ticks left on the clock. Seven seconds later Veselinovic connected on Montana Tech's 12th 3-pointer of the night to make it a one-possession game. The Missionaries worked the shot clock at the other end, and with 17 seconds remaining, Faidley nailed a deep 3-pointer from the right wing to seal the victory. It was his only trey of the night.
After shooting 56.3 percent from the floor in the first half, Whitman sharpened its shooting eye over the final 20 minutes, making 16 of 27 shots for a 59.3 percent shooting percentage. Montana Tech shot just 41.4 percent for the game.
Faidley, who leads the Northwest Conference in scoring at 28 points per game, also contributed seven assists and six rebounds. Brewer, who had 14 points in the first half, finished with 21 on nine-of-12 shooting from the floor. Both Faidley and Brewer were named to the all-tournament team.
Williams paced the Orediggers with 17 points, hitting eight of his 11 shots from the floor. He just missed a triple-double, adding 12 rebounds and eight assists. Williams and teammate Tony Trudnowski, who nailed five 3-pointers en route to 20 points and seven rebounds, were named to the all-tourney team.
Jordan Wheeler, a sophomore guard, had a strong night for the Missionaries with nine points, seven assists and no turnovers. Whitman also got solid help from its bench. Brendan Ziegler hit twice from the 3-point stripe and chipped in with eight points, Jordan Brandon combined six points and six rebounds, and freshman Max Adcox had six boards and four points. Counting Grant Brandal, the Whitman reserves made nine of 14 shots from the floor and were good for 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Brandal made his only shot attempt at the first-half buzzer. Faidley, a football quarterback in high school, rifled a long inbounds pass down the floor to Brandal, whose layin beat the buzzer for Whitman's 39-36 lead the break.
The Orediggers, who also got 13 points from Jeramie Hopson and 10 more from Veselinovic, led by as many as five points in the opening half. Williams scored to give Montana Tech a 36-34 lead with 2:11 left, but Wheeler nailed a three-pointer with 1:05 remaining and Brandal added his last-second layin.
Montana Tech, an NAIA Div. I team, is now 4-8 on the season.
After a break for the holidays, Whitman returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 30, when it hosts Canada's Thompson Rivers University in an exhibition game. The contest starts at 4 p.m. in Sherwood Center.
Box scoreWith Kyle Masten making all eight of his 3-point shots and scoring 31 points, Corban College ran past Montana Tech 83-68 Saturday night in Sherwood Center to claim the championship trophy of Whitman's 13th annual Wildhorse Resort Classic.
Corban, now 5-7 on the season, opened the three-team tournament Friday night with an 82-73 victory over host Whitman. Montana Tech and Whitman wrap up the tourney at 6 p.m. Sunday in Sherwood Center. There is no admission charge for Sunday night's game.
Montana Tech held a 35-33 halftime lead in Saturday night's game, but Masten drilled six of his 3-pointers in the second half as Corban quickly moved in front and stayed there. Masten, who was 11 of 12 from the floor overall, was named the tournament MVP. Hannes Gehring, who had 28 points and 10 rebounds in Corban's two weekend wins, was also named to the all-tournament team.
The remainder of the all-tournament team will be named after Sunday night's game between Whitman and Montana Tech.
In hitting eight 3-pointers, Masten set a new tournament record for most treys in one game. As a team, Corban was 14 of 25 from long range, which tied the tournament team record for one game. Whitman had 14 3-pointers in a 1996 game against Okanogan College.
Masten was one of four Warriors scoring in double figures against Montana Tech. Clay Martin had 14 points while Gehring and Ian Logan each had 10. Logan also had six rebounds and five assists.
Montana Tech's Dusan Veselinovic led the Orediggers with 14 points. The 6-foot-9 junior made four of his six 3-point shots. Casey Briggs notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Tony Trudnowski chipped in with 12 points and five boards, and Jeramie Hopson added 10 points.
The loss dropped Montana Tech's record to 4-7.
Box score
Ben Sisler came off the bench to score 14 second-half points and lift Corban to an 82-73 victory over host Whitman in Friday night's opening game of the annual Wildhorse Resort Classic in Sherwood Center.
The victory gives Corban a 4-7 early season record. Whitman slips to 2-4.
After Garth Brandal's bucket pulled Whitman even at 49 midway through the second half, Sisler nailed a pair of 3-pointers as part of a 13-2 run that gave the Warriors a 62-51 cushion with 8:38 left to play. The Missionaries countered with a quick two-minute spurt, getting two hoops from Graham Brewer and a Jordan Wheeler trifecta to close to within 62-58.
With Sisler hitting his fourth trey of the half, Corban regained some breathing room with a 12-5 run that produced a 74-63 advantage with just over three minutes left. Sparked by 3-pointers from Wheeler and Chris Faidley, Whitman made a final push that Brandal capped with a layin, cutting the Missionary deficit to 78-73 with a minute remaining.
But Clay Martin hit two free throws and Ian Logan scored inside as the Warriors salted away the victory.
Sisler and Hannes Gerhing finished with 18 points apiece for Corban, which shot 63.3 percent in the second half. Logan had 11 and Martin 10.
Faidley had game-high numbers in points (19) and rebounds (nine) to pace Whitman. Wheeler, who connected on four of his 3-point shots, had 16 points and seven assists. Brewer made nine of 16 shots from the floor and was good for 18 points and five rebounds.
Brandal, the only senior on the Whitman roster, tallied all 14 of his points in the second half. Playing extended minutes for the first time since breaking a cheekbone in a preseason scrimmage, Brandal was two of three from the 3-point line and five of six from the floor overall.
Corban shot 53.3 percent from the floor for the night, just a shade better than Whitman (50.9 percent). The Missionaries made nine of 19 shots from the 3-point line. The Warriors were eight of 23 from long range.
After Whitman jumped in front 7-3 to start the game, Corban led by as many as five points in the first half. Wheeler's 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in the opening stanza left the Missionaries with a 29-28 deficit at the break.
Faidley's trey at the 16:21 mark of the second half gave Whitman a 40-38 lead, and Brewer's bucket with 13:04 on the clock had the Missionaries in front 46-44. Corban regained the lead for good when Ben Potloff drained a 3-pointer with 10:31 remaining.
The Wildhorse Classic, a three-team tournament, continues at 6 p.m. Saturday with Corban playing Montana Tech in Sherwood Center. Whitman and Montana Tech square off at 6 p.m. Sunday in the tourney finale.
Box scoreChris Faidley's 26 points and 10 rebounds weren't nearly enough as high-powered Evergreen State posted an 88-73 victory over Whitman in men's non-conference action Saturday night in Sherwood Center.
Evergreen State, an NAIA Div. II squad that won Friday night at Lewis-Clark State, upped its record to 6-1. Whitman slipped to 2-3 on the season.
The Geoducks, who squeaked past Whitman 71-67 last month in Olympia, Wash., shot a sizzling 59.3 percent from the floor in the rematch. Nathan Menefee led all scorers with 28 points. All five Geoduck starters scored in double figures, including Michael Ward who had 17 points and Julio Feliciano who notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Faidley, who entered the game averaging 31.5 points per game, was one of only two Missionaries hitting double digits in the scoring column. Sophomore Jordan Brandon came off the bench to score 12 points.
Whitman held its last lead at 10-9 with 13:39 left in the first half. That's when Evergreen State uncorked a 27-6 run to take a 36-16 lead. The Missionaries countered with a 13-2 burst, capped by Faidley's three-point play in the paint, to cut the deficit to 38-29 with three minutes remaining. The visitors regained their scoring touch, pushing their lead to 45-31 at the break.
Evergreen State regained a 20-point lead, 56-36, six minutes into the second half and still led by 19 with 10:30 left in the game. Four points from Faidley and baskets by Grant Brandal and Brandon pulled Whitman to within 11 points, 65-54, but Menefee responded with the next seven Geoduck points to put the game on ice.
Whitman stays at home next weekend, hosting its annual Wildhorse Resort Classic. The Missionaries play Corban at 7 p.m. Friday and Montana Tech at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Box score
Chris Faidley scored a career-high 42 points to power Whitman past Montana's University of Great Falls 81-67 in non-conference men's basketball action Saturday night in Sherwood Center.
Whitman evened its early season record at 2-2 while Great Falls, an NAIA Div. I school, dropped to 1-6.
"That was a solid win against a pretty good team," Whitman coach Skip Molitor said. "It was a nice way for us to open our December homestand."
With Great Falls leading 17-13 eight minutes into the game, Faidley scored the next 11 Missionary points to put Whitman on top 24-23 with 7:35 left in the first half. The Argos briefly regained a 29-27 lead, but sophomore Jordan Wheeler and Faidley hit back-to-back 3-pointers to lift Whitman into a 42-37 lead at the break.
Faidley, a junior guard, made eight of 12 shots from the floor and six of seven free throws to finish the opening half with 25 points. "Chris has had 20 or more points by halftime in three of the four games we've played," Molitor said. "And it's not like people don't know they have to guard him. What's great about Chris is that as he draws more defensive attention, he has the passing ability to get his teammates some easy buckets.
Faidley handed out five of his game-high six assists in the second half. Whitman maintained its lead throughout the final 20 minutes, although Great Falls closed to within 53-52 with 14:55 left to play. Faidley hit Whitman's next two buckets and then fed 6-foot-9 sophomore post Graham Brewer for a pair of inside baskets as the Missionaries regained some breathing room.
Fouled on a 3-point attempt, Faidley cashed in all three free throws and Wheeler connected on his second trey of the game to give Whitman a 67-57 cushion with 9:38 remaining. Great Falls drew no closer than eight points down the stretch.
Brewer finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Wheeler also had 14 points and his three steals keyed a Missionary defensive effort that forced 15 Argo turnovers. Whitman committed just seven turnovers of its own.
"That was one of the team goals, to get our turnovers down into the single digits," Molitor said. "We took care of the ball, and even though we got beat on the boards, our team defense was good in the second half. We made it more difficult for them to get the ball inside."
Rayshaun Ames, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, led the Argos with 20 points. Matt Niemyer, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, added 19 points, and 6-foot-6 sophomore Ken Penn combined 16 points with 12 rebounds. Great Falls outrebounded Whitman 38-27. With seven rebounds, Faidley was the only Missionary other than Brewer to collect more than three boards.
Faidley's 42 points elevated his early season scoring average to 31.5 points per game, which is tops among players in Whitman's Northwest Conference. He is shooting 52.5 percent from the floor and averaging 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He is 18 of 36 from the 3-point line.
Whitman continues its non-conference schedule next Saturday when its Evergreen State at 4 p.m. in Sherwood Center. The Missionaries opened their season in mid-November with a 71-67 loss to Evergreen in a game played in Olympia, Wash.
Box scoreWith Chris Faidley scoring 30-plus points for the second time in three games, the Whitman men's basketball team notched its first victory of the season with a 70-53 win over U.C.-Santa Cruz Saturday night at the Caltech/Cal Lutheran Classic in Pasadena, Calif. Both teams ended the night with 1-2 season records.
The Banana Slugs seized the early advantage, parlaying a hot shooting touch into a 22-17 lead. "They started like a house on fire," Whitman coach Skip Molitor said. "They were making everything against our zone as well as our man defense. Once we made some defensive stops and cooled them off a bit, it became the Chris Faidley show."
Faidley, a junior guard, drilled his first six 3-pointers and tallied 22 points in the first 20 minutes of play, powering the Missionaries to a 43-20 lead. Faidley finished with 31 points, raising his early season scoring average to an even 28 points, which is tops among Northwest Conference players.
Graham Brewer, Whitman's 6-foot-9 sophomore post, carried the offensive load in the second half, finishing with a season-high 21 points. "Faidley and Brewer keyed the offense, but we got a strong team effort on the backboards and on defense," Molitor said.
Whitman outrebounded U.C.-Santa Cruz 41-28 with Brewer snaring a game-high nine boards. Faidley and junior Keefe Piper had five rebounds apiece. Junior Brendan Ziegler and freshman Max Adcox picked off four apiece.
Sophomore Jordan Wheeler made both of his 3-point attempts and finished with eight points on just three shots. He also contributed four assists, three steals and three rebounds.
After the Banana Slugs took their 22-17 lead midway through the first half, Wheeler nailed a 3-pointer and assisted on Faidley trey to put Whitman on top for good. The Missionaries shot 58.6 percent from the floor in the opening half, making 17 of 29 shots, including seven of 10 from 3-point range.
Up by 13 at intermission, the Missionaries scored the first three points of the second half and raced away to their largest lead of the night at 57-34 with 14:23 left to play. The Banana Slugs drew no closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
Whitman plays its next five games at home, starting next Saturday with the University of Great Falls. That game starts at 6 p.m. in Sherwood Center.
"We're looking forward to the home games in December," Molitor said. "It will be fun to play in front of our students."
Box scoreAfter digging itself a huge early hole, the Whitman men's basketball team rallied to take a second-half lead before falling 72-67 to California Lutheran Friday afternoon at the Caltech/Cal Lutheran Classic in Pasadena, Calif.
Cal Lutheran, coming off a 17-8 season, hit four 3-pointers and capitalized on eight Whitman turnovers to grab a 23-6 lead with 12:28 left in the first half. Still trailing by 17 points (32-15) with 5:40 remaining, Whitman launched an 11-2 run that narrowed the gap to eight points with 1:06 on the clock. But the Kingsmen went to halftime with a 40-27 lead after Kyle Knudsen nailed Cal Lutheran's sixth 3-pointer in the waning seconds.
"We had a hard time handling their pressure and quickness to start the game," Whitman coach Skip Molitor said. "Once we adjusted, we played well and had leads of two or three points in the second half. It was disturbing to fall behind at the start, but it was encouraging the way we battled back and had chances to win the game at the end."
Five minutes into the second half, Whitman made its move behind 6-foot-9 sophomore post Graham Brewer. With the Missionaries down 48-36, Brewer scored nine points to spark at 12-1 Whitman burst that forged a 49-49 tie with 11:35 left to play. After sinking two free throws at the 9:57 mark, Chris Faidley drilled a 3-pointer 60 seconds later to give the visitors their first lead of the night at 54-52.
Cal Lutheran's Bethel Hailemichael scored the next five points, three from the charity stripe, to put the Kingsmen back in front at 57-54 with seven minutes left. Buckets by Brewer and freshman Max Adcox twice trimmed Whitman's deficit to one point, the last time with 5:21 remaining.
Cal Lutheran jumped its lead back to five, but Jordan Wheeler's three-point play in the paint pulled Whitman to within 63-61 with just under three minutes left. Brewer was whistled for his fourth and fifth fouls on Cal Lutheran's next two possessions as the Kingsmen extended their lead to 67-61.
Wheeler's inside bucket capped a final Missionary charge that cut the deficit to 69-67 with 24 seconds remaining. But senior captain Deshion Inniss made three of four free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win for the Kingsmen.
Faidley, who led all scorers with 20 points, was seven of the 14 from the floor. He hit four of his nine 3-point attempts and handed out six assists while playing all 40 minutes.
Brewer, who scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half, was seven of 10 from the field and four of five from the free throw line. As a team, Whitman shot 52.2 percent from the floor. Cal Lutheran shot just 45.8 percent but took 13 more shots than the Missionaries. The Kingsmen also picked off 11 steals in forcing 19 Whitman turnovers.
Cal Lutheran had a slight 34-32 edge in rebounding. Brewer led Whitman's board work with eight rebounds.
With 15 points, Wheeler gave Whitman a third player with double digits in the scoring column. Adcox chipped in with eight points and four rebounds. Cal Lutheran's balanced attack included five players in double figures. Hailemichael led the way with 16 points.
After the game, the Missionaries headed to Pauley Pavilion to see UCLA, the nation's top-ranked NCAA Div. I team, host Yale. Whitman, 0-2 to start the season, looks for its first victory when it plays U.C.-Santa Cruz at 8 p.m. Saturday in Caltech's Braun Athletic Center. The start time is two hours later than originally scheduled.
Box scoreDespite Chris Faidley's career-high 33 points, the Whitman men's basketball team fell just a few plays short in dropping a 71-67 season-opening decision to Evergreen State College Saturday night in Olympia, Wash.
"We were right on the verge of an outstanding road victory against probably the quickest team we'll play all season," Whitman coach Skip Molitor said. "We keep playing that well and that hard, and we're going to do just fine in the win-loss column this season."
With the score tied at 65 with less that two minutes left, Evergreen "got some breaks and made some plays at the end, and we didn't," Molitor said. "We still competed extremeley well."
Evergreen State, an NAIA school, ran its early record to 2-0. The Geoducks ran roughshod over Pacific, one of Whitman's Northwest Conference rivals, by an 87-49 count Friday night. In earlier exhibition games, Evergreen State notched a 12-point road victory at Saint Martin's, an NCAA Div. II school, and lost to NCAA Div. I Boise State.
"Evergreen is a very good team, but other than a Division 1 team, we gave them their first test of the season," Molitor said. "I'm encouraged with the way we played."
Faidley, a junior guard, made 10 of his 20 shots from the floor and eight of 11 free throw attempts. He was five of 10 from 3-point range and pulled down five rebounds. "Chris had 20 points by halftime," Molitor said. "It's going to fun watching him set the tone for us this season."
Jordan Wheeler, a sophomore guard, also had a good game, scoring 15 points to go with six rebounds and three steals. "Wheels gave us an outstanding effort at both ends of the floor," Molitor said.
Whitman, which led 31-30 at halftime, held its own on the backboards, battling the Geoducks to a 34-34 standoff. The Missionaries got six rebounds each from junior Keefe Piper, sophomore Graham Brewer and freshman Max Adcox.
Nathan Menefee paced Evergreen with 18 points. David Howard and Nick Moore added 13 points apiece.
Whitman heads to southern California later this week for the NCAA Div. III Cal Tech Classic. The Missionaries play Cal Lutheran at noon Friday and U.C.-Santa Cruz at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Box scoreWith Chris Faidley scoring 29 points and Graham Brewer adding 19, the Whitman men's varsity basketball team held off a talented alumni squad for a 76-72 exhibition victory Saturday night in Sherwood Center.
Greg Caldwell, a sharpshooter from the class of 2004, nailed three of five shots from 3-point range to lead the alumni with 15 points and six rebounds. Kyle Born, a Northwest Conference First-Team selection last winter as a senior, added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Matt Airy ('04) hit three 3-pointers and had 11 points for the alumni squad, which was nine of 17 from long distance. Mark Bouma ('03), a graduate of the doctoral program in physical therapy at the University of Washington, finished with 10 points and five assists. Point guard Greg Ricker ('06) distributed six assists and made four steals.
Faidley, the third-leading scorer in the NWC last season at 16.9 points per game, turned in a strong all-around game against the alumni. He made nine of his 17 shots from the floor, including three of five from the 3-point line, and had six rebounds and four assists.
Brewer, Whitman's 6-foot-8 sophomore post, was eight of 16 from the floor. He also grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots. Junior Brendan Ziegler added seven points while sophomore point guard Jordan Wheeler added five points, making two of his three shots from the field, to go with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Max Adcox, a 6-foot-5 freshman forward from Eagle, Idaho, picked off a team-high seven rebounds while scoring six points on two-of-three shooting from both the floor and free throw line.
Box scoreDespite a game-high 20 points from junior Chris Faidley, the Whitman men's basketball dropped a 75-47 decision to NCAA Div. I Montana Sunday afternoon in an exhibition game at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont.
The non-counting exhibition was the first game action of the season for the Missionaries, who host their annual alumni game at 7 p.m. next Saturday in Sherwood Center. Whitman then kicks off its season on Saturday, Nov. 17, at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.
Sunday's game was the second and final exhibition for Montana, which had outpointed the University of Great Falls by a 77-46 margin on Oct. 31. The Grizzlies open their season this Friday by hosting Colorado State.
Graham Brewer, Whitman's 6-foot-8 sophomore post, hit a short jumper to give Whitman a 2-2 tie with just 1:15 off the first-half clock. Montana, picked by one media poll to win this winter's Big Sky Conference title, scored the next nine points and led by no fewer than seven points for the rest of the first half.
Ryan Staudacher, a sophomore guard, nailed a three-pointer with two seconds left to stake Montana to a 39-20 lead at the break. Whitman twice cut its deficit to 17 points early in the second half, the second time on Faidley's two free throws with 16:00 left. The Grizzlies pushed their lead to 21 points with 13:35 remaining and kept their advantage at a minimum of 20 points until the final buzzer.
Faidley, who converted 10 of 13 free throw opportunities, also had five rebounds and three assists. Brewer added 10 points and four boards. Sophomore point guard Jordan Wheeler hit two of three shots from the 3-point line to also finish with 10 points.
Jordan Hasquet, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, led Montana with 15 points and four rebounds. The Grizzlies also got 15 points from Staudacher, 13 points from Matt Martin and eight points, six rebounds and two blocked shots from 6-foot-11 freshman post Brian Qvale.