Whitworth Drubs Central

Maybe it was because the Whitworth Pirates knew their trip home would be a 5-minute walk to the dorm instead of a snowy, 6-hour bus ride back to Ellensburg.

Or maybe it was the effect of Central Washington’s second game in two nights, after a 23-point loss to Gonzaga University on Tuesday at Martin Centre.

Whatever the reason, Whitworth’s Pirates made a more-than-satisfactory adjustment from last week’s season-opening trip to Hawaii on Wednesday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse, surviving a second-half scare before walloping the Wildcats 87-75.

The victory boosted the Bucs to 4-1 and came, impressively enough, without senior starter Nate Williams, who suffered a hamstring injury late in the final contest of the BYU-Hawaii tournament Saturday.

Central Washington (2-5) trailed by 20 points at halftime after Whitworth scored the last nine points before the break. But the Cats came out strong, and back-to-back 3s by Grady Fallon after nine consecutive CWU points by LaCrosse-Washtucna’s Todd Nealey cut Whitworth’s lead to 55-47 with 12:30 left in the game.

That lapse earned the Pirates a fanny-chewing by coach Warren Friedrichs during a hastily called timeout. They responded with a 17-0 run over the next 6 minutes.

“We just quit defending the perimeter early in the second half,” Friedrichs said afterward, “and they have plenty of guys who can spot up and shoot the 3. We wanted to make them go a little more one-on-one.

“What happened during our run was that we started playing defense again,” he continued, “until we let up a little bit at the end and then couldn’t hit our free throws.”

Doug Schulz hit a pair of foul shots to get the Whitworth streak started, but the Pirates spread the wealth, with five players scoring and Gabe Jones impressing with two baskets, a steal and a couple assists.

By the time Central scored again with 6:44 left, the Wildcats were down 72-49, and their bus driver was scraping the snow off the windows. They did pull within 10 points late, but the Pirates were never in serious danger.

Whitworth shot 59 percent from the field and had four players in double figures. Jeff Mix led the way with 17 points. Ben Heimerman had 16, Tyler Jordan 14 and Jones 12. Mix and Jones each had seven rebounds.

“Mix did a nice job, especially in the first half,” said Friedrichs. “Central’s a real physical team, and that takes us out of our flow, but we still played awfully well in spurts.”

The Wildcats were frequently their own worst enemy, committing 29 fouls which sent the Pirates to the line 41 times. They showed impressive shooting range, hitting 11 3-point shots, including four in eight tries by Fallon.

Nealey led Central with 19 points and Fallon added 15, but the Cats shot only 39 percent from the field and were hurt inside in the first half, when Heimerman and Mix combined for 27 points.

Whitworth’s next contest is the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges opener, at home Saturday against Whitman. The Pirates may still be without Williams, who has improved from wheelchair to crutches to mild jogging. However, he hasn’t practiced since the Pirates returned from Hawaii on Sunday.

Whitworth 87, CWU 75

CENTRAL WASHINGTON Nealey 6-12 5-6 19, Reed 0-0 0-0 0, Deutsch 2-3 0-0 5, Behbahani 0-1 2-2 2, Fallon 5-11 1-2 15, Wick 2-3 0-3 5, Nassinec 3-5 2-2 9, Kennedy 0-2 1-2 1, Davis 2-8 0-0 4, Sackmann 0-2 0-1 0, Mosley 1-10 5-6 7, thomas 3-4 0-1 6, Fraker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 16-25 75.

WHITWORTH Weston 2-5 4-5 9, Mix 6-8 5-11 17, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Schulz 1-2 5-8 7, Jones 4-10 3-3 12, Nakanishi 1-1 1-2 3, Vargas 2-2 1-2 6, Heimerman 7-10 2-4 16, Sullivan 0-0 1-2 1, McDaniel 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan 4-6 3-4 14, Jones 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 28-48 25-41 87.

Halftime score - Whitworth 48, CWU 28. 3-point goals - CWU 11-30 (Nealey 2-5, Deutsch 1-2, Fallon 4-8, Wick 1-2, Nassinec 1-3, Kennedy 0-1, Davis 2-7, Mosley 0-2), Whitworth 6-12 (Weston 1-4, Jones 1-3, Vargas1-1, Jordan 3-4). Total fouls - CWU 29, Whitworth 21. Fouled out - Nassinec. Rebounds - CWU 26 (Mosley 6), Whitworth 29 (Mix 7, Jones 7). Assists - CWU 11 (Mosley 3), Whitworth 16 (Weston 5).

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