Whits Make Willamette 39th Victim

Ben Heimerman scored 20 points and pulled in 10 rebounds and Jeff Mix chipped in with 14 points as the NAIA Division II eighth-ranked Whitworth men’s basketball team downed Willamette 74-61 Friday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

It was the Pirates’ (12-4, 8-2 Northwest Conference) 39th straight win at home and earnd them a first-place tie with tonight’s home opponent, No. 22 George Fox (10-6, 8-2). George Fox lost to Whitman Friday night 90-77.

“They (Whitworth) should make their reservation for the national tournament now,” said Willamette coach Gordie James.

Whitworth trailed early 20-17, but a 3-pointer by reserve guard Sean Weston with 9:06 left in the first half gave the Pirates a 20-22 lead.

Willamette dropped to 9-7, 5-5.

Whitworth 74, Willamette 61

Willamette (9-7, 5-5) - Ioane 1-1 0-0 3, B.Nelson 3-9 0-0 8, Gahr 1-4 2-2 5, VandenBrink 1-7 0-0 2, Rice 0-4 3-4 3, Lubisich 2-3 0-0 6, Hanna 3-7 1-1 7, Peck 2-3 1-2 6, Smith 1-5 0-0 2, Watts 1-2 1-4 3, Gow 0-0 0-0 0, Downey 6-9 0-2 12, Greg 2-3 0-0 4, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 8-15 61.

Whitworth (12-4, 8-2) - Ramey 0-0 0-0 0, Mix 6-9 2-3 14, Weston 1-5 2-2 5, Schulz 3-5 0-0 6, Nakanishi 1-3 0-0 2, R.Nelson 4-9 0-0 10, Heimerman 6-8 8-8 20, Sullivan 1-1 0-0 2, McDaniel 1-2 0-0 2, Jordan 1-7 0-0 3, Jones 3-8 0-1 8, Ruebel 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 28-60 12-14 74.

Halftime - Whitworth 32, Willamette 29. 3-point goals - Willamette 7-18 (Lubisich 2-3, B.Nelson 2-5, Ioane 1-1, Peck 1-1, Gahr 1-2, Rice 0-2, VandenBrink 0-4), Whitworth 6-12 (Jones 2-2, R.Nelson 2-6, Weston 1-1, Jordan 1-1, Nakanishi 0-1, Ruebel 0-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Willamette 31 (Watts 7), Whitworth 39 (Heimerman 10). Assists - Willamette 15 (Ioane 3), Whitworth 15 (Jordan 5). Total fouls - Willamette 16, Whitworth 17. Technicals - None. A - NA.

, DataTimes