SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Whitworth College men's basketball team will conclude the 2005-06 non-conference schedule at a pair of tournaments in Southern California. The Pirates will compete in the Cal Lutheran Thrivent Financial Tournament on December 29th and 30th. Whitworth will follow that with an appearance in the Occidental Holiday Classic on January 2nd and 3rd.

Pecht Leads the Pirates in scoring average

The Pirates: Whitworth comes out of the Christmas break with a record of 5-2 after going 2-0 at the St. Vincent de Paul Invitational on December 17-18 in Burlingame, California. The Pirates hammered UC Santa Cruz 84-54 on Saturday the 17th before pulling out a 74-69 win over Cal Lutheran on Sunday. Kevin Hasenfus (Jr., P, Lodi, Calif. - San Joaquin Delta College) averaged 14 points and 9.5 rebounds in the two wins.

Early this season Lance Pecht (Sr., F, Spokane, Wash. - LCSC) is Whitworth's leading scorer, averaging 17.9 points per game. He adds 5.7 rebounds and has made 53% of his shots. But balance has been the key to the Pirates' success as five different players average double figures in scoring and five different players have led the team in scoring in a game at least once this year.

Jon Young (Jr., G, Tracy, Calif. - Tracy HS) is adding 14.1 points per game and has made 39% of his three point attempts, sinking 22 in seven games. Bryan Williams (Jr., G, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) averages 5.5 assists per game, to go along with more than 11 points per contest.

The CLU Tournament: Whitworth will take on Nebraska Wesleyan University in the first round of the CLU Thrivent Financial Tournament on Thursday night. The Pirates and Prairie Wolves have never met in men's basketball. NWU is a Division III independent, but plays in the NAIA Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Wolves are 5-4 after starting the year 5-0. Their last game was a 76-55 loss at Sioux Falls on December 10th. Senior forward Joseph Easely averages 17.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Marcus Minzel adds 11 points per contest while making 43% of his three point shots.

Whitworth will play either Luther College (Iowa) or host CLU on Friday. Luther is 5-3 and has won four in a row, including a 100-98 overtime victory at Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) on December 18th. Senior guard Andy Rupp leads the Norse in scoring at 16.3 points per game. Sophomore forward Tony Brantner adds 14.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. The Pirates have never played Luther in men's basketball.

CLU dropped to 3-5 with its loss to Whitworth on the 18th. The Kingsmen are led by senior guard Sergei Lepiashinski's 13.6 points per game. However five other players average between 8.4 and 9.8 points per game for balanced team scoring. The Pirates' win over CLU was the first meeting between the schools.

The Oxy Classic: The schedule for both games at the Occidental Holiday Classic are preset. Whitworth will play the host Tigers on Monday the 2nd at 7:30 p.m., followed by a game against Pomona-Pitzer on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Occidental is 7-1 after a 67-62 win at La Sierra (Calif.) on December 19th. The Tigers figure to be a strong challenger in the SCIAC this season after finishing 16-8 last year. Pomona-Pitzer, the defending SCIAC champion, is 4-3 against a tough schedule this winter. The Sagehens lost at NAIA DI Biola 63-54 on December 17th in their last game. They will play Amherst (Mass.) in their first game back on the second. P-P went 17-9 last season. Whitworth has never played either team in men's basketball prior to this season.