Whitworth men’s basketball, unbeaten and ranked 14th, ready to defend NWC title

The Whitworth men’s basketball team appears in good position to compete for a fourth consecutive Northwest Conference title, taking an undefeated record into conference play this week.

Whitworth stormed through a fairly competitive nonconference schedule, picking up several impressive wins, including road trips in California and Texas, to reach a 9-0 record.

The Pirates will open against Pacific Lutheran at the Whitworth Fieldhouse on Friday, followed by Puget Sound on Saturday.

“I just really love the resilience of my guys,” Whitworth coach Damion Jablonski said. “I think they’re winners and they haven’t all been easy wins. I think we’ve learned a lot about what it takes, which is a good place to be going into conference.”

The most recent D3hoops.com’s rankings have Whitworth at 14th in the country, but the Pirates could take a jump in the next update.

Cal Lutheran, which Whitworth beat on the road in November, is ranked 25th. Schreiner and Hardin-Simmons, two other Pirate wins this season, are both getting votes.

Jablonski pointed to the tight 81-76 win over Cal Lutheran, a rematch from last year’s postseason, as the team’s most impressive win and a confidence booster for a well-rounded group that lost several players from last year’s team.

Outside of three narrow victories, the Pirates have rolled over their other opponents .

“I just think their togetherness and competitive spirit is probably the reason we’ve had success thus far,” Jablonski said.

“They’ve taken a lot of pride on the defensive end, so that’s carried us, even in the games where we might’ve had a little more difficulty getting it going offensively.”

Despite expectations for a competitive NWC, no other program has fewer than three losses. Some of the expected contenders for the conference title alongside Whitworth, such as Pacific and George Fox, sit around .500.

Willamette has the second-best record at 6-3, but already picked up a loss to Lewis & Clark.

Whitman, Whitworth’s rival and a regular conference contender, is 2-7 after losing several crucial players from last year.

“I think our nonconference results have been a little bit disappointing; however, I really think that the league as a whole looks to be a lot tighter and competitive on every single night,” Jablonski said. “I know some of those nonconference results have been against some really good teams, so it’s not like our league has played an easy schedule.”

While Whitworth relied on its starters early in the season, the group has found strength in numbers as the season has gone on.

Graduate senior Jake Holtz, as expected, has been a force for the team, averaging a team-high 15.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and three assists.

Senior Garrett Long and Junior Stephen Behil have both stepped nicely into the starting five. Long has averaged 14.1 points per game, while Behil is averaging 13.2.

Jablonski identified finding multiple ways to score and continuing to refine bench depth as keys for the rest of the year.

“There is tons to still improve on,” he said.

“We are still in the beginning parts of the season and we have a lot more growth that I know that this team can make. Both sides of the ball, I think there is a lot of growth that we can still (accomplish).”

Whitworth will have a road trip against George Fox and Pacific on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18, and will host the two programs on Feb. 14 and 15.

The Pirates will end the regular season on the road against Whitman and Linfield.

Despite their dominance so far, the Pirates won’t take their conference opponents lightly.

“We’re going to continue to see a lot of different types of defenses, even as we go into conference,” Jablonski said.

“With the familiarity that other teams have, it’s going to be a challenge every night.”