Lewis & Clark upsets top-seeded Whitworth 71-64 in NWC Tournament semifinals
For the first time since 2001, the Whitworth men’s basketball team will not play for the Northwest Conference championship.
The Pirates, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, fell to Lewis & Clark 71-64 in a physical semifinal in a packed Whitworth Fieldhouse on Friday night.
Whitworth (22-4) mounted a desperate comeback in the final minutes, but fell short as the Pioneers (14-12) advanced to the championship for the first time since 2015.
“This is an amazing group of guys and they’ve (made comebacks) several times this year,” Whitworth coach Damion Jablonski said. “We believe and we just came up short. That is why they were a special group of guys – we were able to pull out a lot of close wins this year and it wasn’t tonight.”
Lewis & Clark gave Whitworth trouble in previous matchups during the regular season, but the Pirates eked out both previous games.
The Pioneers’ strength and physical play limited the Pirates’ offense in the paint, and Whitworth was unable to hit from deep, finishing 5 of 21 on 3-pointers.
“That’s a big, strong, physical, good defensive team,” Jablonski said. “I do think we got a lot of shots, especially at the rim, that we just didn’t make.”
The teams stayed neck and neck for most of the first half, with Lewis & Clark launching small runs but Whitworth repeatedly answering.
Early foul trouble restricted graduate forward and Pirates leading scorer Jake Holtz, who only scored five points in the first 20 minutes. The Pioneers led 28-27 at halftime.
Lewis & Clark maintained its lead after halftime and throughout the entire second half.
The Pirates had a tough time containing shifty senior guard Mikey Medlock Jr., who scored in a variety of ways, finishing with 24 points and shooting 8 of 12 from the field. Pioneers senior forward Sam Henderson added 17 points.
Lewis & Clark began to pull away in the final 10 minutes, building a 14-point lead with five minutes to go.
Whitworth looked to Holtz to bring the game back. The fifth-year player found success out of the high post, where he scored off the dribble and found teammates out of the double teams.
The Pirates pulled within four points several times, bringing a raucous crowd to its feet, but had some costly misses down the stretch at the free-throw line.
“We didn’t shoot very well (9 for 17) from the free-throw line,” Jablonski said. “I think we weren’t able to get the foul calls at the rim, probably because they’re just pretty big. When you’re not able to get to the free-throw line much, you gotta make some of those.”
Senior guard Garrett Long led the way for the Pirates with 20 points and three assists. Holtz totaled 18 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Whitworth’s streak of three consecutive seasons with a conference title also came to an end. Despite a perfect nonconference record and overall strong season, the possibility of securing an at-large bid in the NCAA Division III Tournament appears slim to none. Draws will be announced on Monday.
“It was an amazing group of guys,” Jablonski said while reflecting on the season. “It was so much fun the entire time. There is a ton to be proud of, even though it stings really bad right now.”
Whitman, which defeated Pacific Lutheran 82-62 earlier in the night, will face Lewis & Clark at the Whitworth Fieldhouse for the Northwest Conference championship at 6 p.m. Saturday. The matchup marks the first time since 2000 that the top two seeds will not play in the final.
It will also be the first time since 2016 that Whitworth and Whitman will not meet in the championship.