Whitworth men pull away in second half for 90-59 win over Benedictine

From staff reports

A balanced scoring attack and a huge second half gave the Whitworth men’s basketball team another win to jump out to a 2-0 start.

Two days after winning their home opener, the Pirates on Tuesday night hosted the Benedictine Eagles, a program out of Illinois in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Whitworth won handily 90-59.

The Pirates, who took a nine-point lead into halftime, quickly pulled away out of the break and never looked back.

Whitworth’s length disrupted Benedictine’s rhythm on defense, holding the Eagles to 36% from the field and 25% on 3-pointers .

The Pirates distributed well and took care of the ball on the other end, conceding only two turnovers in the second half. Whitworth shot 51% overall and 37% from behind the arc.

Whitworth’s depth also showed, as five Pirates reached double digits in scoring.

Jake Holtz, the graduate student forward, finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks.

Stephen Behill added 14 points, hitting 4 of 7 3-pointers, and Diego Jaques had 13 points .

Colton Looney came off the bench to lead the Pirates in scoring, hitting three 3-pointers on the way to 17 points in 17 minutes.

Senior guard Tanner Resch led the way for the Eagles with 12 points. Resch was the only Benedictine player to reach double figures.

Whitworth will travel to Thousand Oaks, California, on Thursday to play California Lutheran in a rematch of the first round of last year’s NCAA Division III Tournament, where the Pirates won in overtime.

The Pirates will then travel to Pasadena, California, to play Caltech.