Hot-Shooting Pirates Win Battle of Whits

Calvin Jurich led the way with 22 points for the Pirates, and David Riley added 21 points and 10 rebounds, as Whitworth strenghthed its hold on second place in the NWC, improving to 11-4 in conference and 19-5 overall. Bo Gregg and Tim Sellereit each added 20 points for the Pirates, who combined to make 15 of 24 shots from the 3-point stripe.

Chris Faidley

 

Chris Faidley and Jordan Wheeler paced Whitman with 23 points apiece while David Michaels just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Whitman, which hit 13 of 26 shots from the 3-point arc, also got 13 points and four assists from Brandon Shaw.

 

Ahead 55-43 at halftime, Whitworth stretched its lead to as many as 18 points midway through the second half. Whitman rallied behind 3-pointers from Wheeler, Faidley and Shaw to pull within eight points, 85-78, with 3:30 left to play. Sellereit answered with a Pirate three and the Missionaries drew no closer than eight points in the closing minutes.  

 

Whitworth also got 12 points and a game-high eight assists from Ross Nakamura. The Pirates shot 61.8 percent from the floor in the first half, making nine of 16 3-point attempts, to open their lead.

 

Steve Campbell came off the Whitman bench to hit three 3-pointers, adding five rebounds to his nine points. The Missionaries shot 52.8 percent from the floor for the game -- just under Whitworth's 53.3 shooting percentage.

David Michaels

 

Faidley, who connected on five of his seven attempts from 3-point range, continues to lead the NWC in both scoring (20.7 ppg) and total 3-point baskets (82). He moved into second place on Whitman's all-time career scoring list earlier this month, but he reached another milestone against Whitworth -- becoming only the second player at Whitman to score more than 1,700 points.

 

Faidley heads into his final game with 1,705 career points. Whitman's all-time scoring leader is Don Woodworth, a 1968 graduate who scored 2,019 points in his career.

 

Whitman, now 5-10 in the NWC and 9-15 overall, wraps up its regular season by hosting Lewis & Clark at 8 p.m. Friday in Sherwood Center. Lewis & Clark and Whitworth play their regular season finales at 3 p.m. Sunday in Spokane.