SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth College finished another strong season with a 20-7 record, only the tenth time in school history the Pirates have reached 20 victories in a season. Three of those years have come under the direction of current head coach Jim Hayford.

Whitworth returned to the NWC tournament and advanced to the championship contest, coming within a game of reaching the NCAA Division III tournament.

Lance Pecht is the NWC Player of the Year

The Pirates: The Pirates finished one game out of first place in the final conference standings after finishing the regular season on a ten game winning streak. Including the first round win over Willamette in the Northwest Conference tournament, Whitworth's 11 game winning streak during the 2005-06 season is the team's longest since starting the 2002-03 season 12-0.

Click here for NWC Basketball standings.

Whitworth's success this season can be traced to a couple of key areas. In NWC-only statistics, Whitworth led the league in both shooting percentage (52.8%), three point percentage (41%) and defensive field goal percentage (41.7%). The Pirates also took care of the ball, giving up only 10.6 turnovers per game, the best in the NWC. And when the Bucs get to the free throw line, they make it (see below).

NWC Player of the Year: Lance Pecht (Sr., F, Spokane, Wash. - West Valley/LCSC) was the Northwest Conference Player of the Year in 2005-06. Pecht was the conference's leading scorer this season, averaging 18.8 points per game. In NWC games only, he averaged 21.6 points per contest. He was also Whitworth's second leading rebounder at 6.2 per contest. He was among the conference leaders in field goal percentage and three point percentage. During Whitworth's 11 game winning streak, Pecht was chosen as the NWC Player of the Week three times in a row.

The Shooter: Jon Young (Jr., G, Tracy, Calif. - Tracy) holds both the Whitworth single season records and career records for most three pointers made and attempted, the season records are 92 (made) and 225 (attempted), which he set last season. Currently he has made 253 career three pointers, on ahead of Ryan Nelson's old career record of 252. Young has attempted 613 three point shots, which is also a record in that category. He still has a full season to play to extend the career records. Young averaged 12.7 points per game. He is the 16th player in Whitworth history to score more than 1,000 career points with 1,010 in his career.

Dishing the Ball: Bryan Williams (Jr., G, Colbert, Wash. - Mead) set a career high for assists in a season. Williams had 154 assists this season, ranking first in the NWC at 5.7 assists per game. Last year he finished with 134 assists in 24 games, averaging 5.5 assists per game. Williams also averaged 10.7 points per game while earning Honorable Mention All-NWC for the second consecutive year.

Balanced Scoring: All five Pirate starters averaged double figures in scoring. In addition to Pecht, Young and Williams, George Tucker (Sr., F, San Ramon, Calif. - Diablo Valley College) added 12.8 points per game, and was the Pirate most successful at getting to the free throw line, where he was 107-125 (86%) this year. Tucker was a Second Team All-NWC selection in 2006.

Kevin Hasenfus (Jr., P, Lodi, Calif. - San Joaquin Delta College) led the Bucs in rebounding (6.9 per game) to go along with 12.3 points per game. He made nearly 60% (128/214) of his shots from the floor.

Don't Foul 'Em: Whitworth ranked second in the Northwest Conference, and fourth at the NCAA Division III level, in team free throw average. The Pirates have made 78.0% (426-546) of their attempts from the line this year.

Fab February: Since Jim Hayford took over as head coach of the Pirates in 2001-02, the Bucs are 29-8 (.784) in the month of February. The Bucs went 5-1 this year.

The Coach: Jim Hayford concluded his fifth season at Whitworth with a record of 95-35 (.731) leading the Pirates. His first three seasons are the best three-year record of any coach in Whitworth history. In his second season he led the team to a Northwest Conference title and 23-4 record, earning NWC Coach of the Year honors. In his first season as the head coach at Whitworth Hayford led the Pirates to a record of 20-7 and a second place finish in the NWC. The only Whitworth coach to have a better rookie season was Art Smith, whose 1954-55 team finished 21-4 and went to the NAIA national tournament. Prior to coming to Whitworth, Hayford was head coach at the University of Sioux Falls (SD), where he compiled a 37-27 record in two seasons. His overall coaching record is 132-62 (.680).