SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth College improved to 9-4 overall and 3-1 in the NWC with a pair of dominating Northwest Conference victories last weekend. The Pirates will now test themselves to see if they can play with the same intensity and focus on the road when they take on conference-leading UPS on Friday and a more confident PLU team on Saturday. Whitworth is coming off of an 80-58 win over Willamette and an 89-61 win over Lewis & Clark.

Lance Pecht leads the Bucs in scoring this year

The Pirates: Whitworth played its best defense of the season last weekend. The Pirates held Willamette to 27.3% shooting in the second half of last week's game, while outscoring the Bearcats 34-17 on the way to a 22-point victory. The effort carried over the following night when Whitworth held Lewis & Clark to only 23% shooting and outscored the Pioneers 49-20 in the first half of a 28 point win. The wins moved Whitworth into a tie for second place in the NWC standings, one game behind Puget Sound. Lance Pecht (Sr., F, Spokane, Wash. - LCSC) was the Pirates' leading scorer during the weekend with 33 points.

Through the first 13 games of the season, all five starters are still averaging double figures in scoring. Lance Pecht leads the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game and adds 5.8 rebounds. Jon Young (RS Jr., G, Tracy, Calif. - Tracy HS) averages 14.3 points per game while making 43% of his three pointers and 3.5 per game. George Tucker (Sr., F, San Ramon, Calif. - Diablo Valley College) adds 12.5 points per game, and has been the Pirate most successful at getting to the free throw line, where he is 42/53 this year. Bryan Williams (Jr., G, Spokane, Wash. - Mead HS) scores 10.8 points to go along with his NWC-best 5.7 assists per game. Kevin Hasenfus (Jr., P, Lodi, Calif. - San Joaquin Delta College) leads the Bucs in rebounding (7.5 per game) to go along with 11.5 points per game.

Don't Foul 'Em: Whitworth ranks first in the Northwest Conference, and seventh at the NCAA Division III level, in team free throw average. The Pirates have made 77.6% (173/223) of their attempts from the line this year. Bryan Williams is fourth in the league in individual percentage (83%).

NEW START TIME: The Northwest Conference has allowed for earlier start times for games involving Whitworth and Whitman that occur on Saturdays. This allows for an earlier return home. Therefore, the PLU double header on Saturday will begin with a women's game at 4:00 p.m. followed by the men's game at 6:00 p.m.

The Opponents: The University of Puget Sound (10-2 overall, 4-0 NWC) comes into the week ranked 7th in the nation. The Loggers lead the NWC in several categories, including scoring average (100.2 points per game), scoring difference (14.2 points per game) and turnover margin (8.8 turnovers per game). UPS has forced opponents into 28 turnovers per contest, while Whitworth comes into the weekend averaging the fewest turnovers in the NWC (10.8 per game). Chase Curtiss is third in the NWC in scoring at 16.8 points per game and leads the conference in steals (2.8 per game). Zack McVey adds 16.0 points per game and leads the NWC in field goal percentage (65%). The Loggers defeated PLU 102-76 on January 3rd and George Fox 106-97 last Friday, both at home. UPS won both of last season's meetings, 114-88 in Tacoma and 69-63 in Spokane. The Loggers have a four-game winning streak in the series.

Pacific Lutheran enters the weekend with confidence after pulling out a 96-87 win over Linfield last Saturday. The Lutes (2-11 overall, 1-3 NWC) broke a three game losing streak with the win. Josh Dressler has played very well for PLU lately and he leads the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game. He is among the leaders in the conference in three point shooting, making 45% of his attempts. Drew Cardwell adds 14.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. PLU surprised Whitworth 69-64 in Tacoma last year, while Whitworth won 75-50 in Spokane as the teams' split a pair of games.

Back on the Air: All the rest of Whitworth's games will be head live on KSBN 1230 am. Bob Castle will call all the plays. The games can also be heard over the internet at www.ksbn.net. The internet link for the webcasts has been fixed for these games. This weekend's broadcasts will begin with the women's games, which are scheduled to start two hours before the men and run as doubleheaders.