SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth College heads into the second half of the Northwest Conference basketball schedule this week. The Pirates will host George Fox University on Friday and Linfield College on Saturday. Both games will begin at 8:00 pm. Whitworth is halfway through a four game homestand that could go a long way toward determining the Pirates' Northwest Conference Tournament fate. Whitworth defeated Whitman and Pacific last week in the Fieldhouse.

Lance Pecht is the NWC Player of the Week

The Pirates: Whitworth is 11-6 overall and 5-3 in the Northwest Conference. The Pirates are two games behind Puget Sound and Willamette, who are tied atop the conference standings with 7-1 records. George Fox, Lewis & Clark and Whitman are all tied for fourth in the NWC standings at 4-4. The top three teams make the conference's post season tournament. The Bucs moved into sole possession of third place last week after defeating Whitman 94-86 on Tuesday, followed by an 86-73 win over Pacific on Saturday.

Player of the Week: Lance Pecht (Sr., F, Spokane, Wash. - West Valley/LCSC) is the Northwest Conference Player of the Week. He scored 46 points in last week's games, including a career high 29 against Whitman. He made over 65% of his shots in the two contests. Pecht is the Pirates' leading scorer this season, averaging 16.5 points per game. He is also the second leading rebounder at 5.6 per contest.

The Shooter: Jon Young (Jr., G, Tracy, Calif. - Tracy) holds the Whitworth single season records for most three pointers made (92) and attempted (225), which he set last season. With eight games left in this regular season he is on pace to break Ryan Nelson's (1998-01) career marks for three pointers. Young has made 232 three pointers, 20 shy of Nelson's career record. Young has attempted 552 three point shots, 31 less than Nelson. Young is averaging 3.2 three pointers made per game (which ranks third in the NWC and 37th in NCAA Division III), and 7.5 attempted this season. Young is the Pirates' second leading scorer this season, averaging 14.5 points per game.

Dishing the Ball: Bryan Williams (Jr., G, Colbert, Wash. - Mead) is on pace to set a career high for assists in a season. Williams finished with 134 assists in 24 games last year, averaging 5.5 assists per game. This season he has 97 assists through 17 games, averaging 5.7 per contest, which ranks second in the NWC and 23rd in NCAA Division III. Williams is also averaging 10.6 points per game.

Balanced Scoring: All five Pirate starters are still averaging double figures in scoring. In addition to Pecht, Young and Williams, George Tucker (Sr., F, San Ramon, Calif. - Diablo Valley College) adds 13.2 points per game, and has been the Pirate most successful at getting to the free throw line, where he is 66 of 81 (81.5%) this year. Kevin Hasenfus (Jr., P, Lodi, Calif. - San Joaquin Delta College) leads the Bucs in rebounding (6.9 per game) to go along with 12.1 points per game.

Don't Foul 'Em: Whitworth ranks first in the Northwest Conference, and fourth at the NCAA Division III level, in team free throw average. The Pirates have made 77.8% (263 of 338) of their attempts from the line this year.

The Opponents: George Fox University comes into the weekend with an 11-6 overall record and a 4-4 mark in the NWC after beating PLU at home on Friday and falling at Willamette on Saturday. The Bruins are still one of the best offensive teams in the conference, averaging 81.9 points per game. Aaron Schmick is third in the league in scoring average at 17.5 points per game. Scott Szalay leads the NWC in rebounding (8.7 per game), while Brent Satern leads the conference in assists (6.2 per game). On December 2nd George Fox came back from a 17-point halftime deficit to force overtime and eventually beat Whitworth 77-69 in Newberg, Oregon. The win was the Bruins' third in a row over the Pirates, George Fox's longest winning streak over Whitworth since the Bruins joined the conference in the fall of 1996.

Linfield College lost at home to Lewis & Clark (70-57) and Puget Sound (79-75) over the weekend to fall to 5-12 overall and 2-6 in the NWC. The Wildcats did give first place UPS all it could handle before losing. Ryan Monagle has been the most consistent player for Linfield, averaging 14.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. But the Wildcats' lineup has been in flux all season and Monagle is one of only two players to have started more than ten games of the 17 game schedule this season. On December 3rd Whitworth bounced back from the hard loss at George Fox to defeat Linfield 100-68 in McMinnville, Oregon, led by 27 points from Lance Pecht.

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.