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LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Whitworth College suffered its worst shooting night of the season, yet still had a shot to tie Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in the final seconds of Tuesday night's game at the Occidental Holiday Classic before losing 68-64 in a non-conference men's basketball contest.

The Pirates (7-4), who dropped their second straight decision in the tournament, shot season lows in both field goal percentage (35.8) and three point percentage (20.8). Yet Brian Williams' long three point attempt with five seconds left could've tied the game, but it rimmed out and the Sagehens (5-5) made one of two free throws to seal the win.

After falling behind 14-8 early in the game, Whitworth rallied to take its only lead of the contest at 22-19 on a jumper by Lance Pecht. But Pomona scored the next 12 points to open up a 31-22 advantage with five minutes left in the period. Whitworth rallied to within 35-33 at halftime.

The Sagehens opened up leads of 11 points twice in the second half, the final time coming at 62-51 with under five minutes to play. But Pomona struggled from the free throw line, allowing the Pirates to claw back within 66-64 after a three pointer by Jon Young with 26 seconds left.

All five Whitworth starters finished with double figures in scoring. Pecht had 16 points, while Young had 13 and eight assists. George Tucker finished with 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Williams and Kevin Hasenfus each had 10 points.

Ed Wexler-Baron led Pomona with 25 points and eight rebounds.

Update on the Pirates: Whitworth has concluded the non-conference part of its schedule. The Pirates went 6-3 in non-conference games, winning two tournaments along the way. Whitworth won its own St. Vincent de Paul Invitational played in Burlingame, California on December 17th and 18th. The Pirates also won the CLU Thrivent Financial Classic on December 29th and 30th. Whitworth has only played one home game this year, an 85-76 win over Montana Tech on November 29th.

Through the first 11 games of the season, all five starters are averaging double figures in scoring. Jon Young leads the team at 15.3 points per game, followed closely by Lance Pecht at 15.2 points per contest. Young is making 42% of his three pointers and 3.5 per game. George Tucker adds 12.3 points per game, and has been the Pirate most successful at getting to the free throw line, where he is 41/49 this year. Bryan Williams scores 11.5 points to go along with his NWC-best 5.8 assists per game. Kevin Hasenfus leads the Bucs in rebounding (7.2 per game) to go along with 10.8 points per game.

Whitworth will play Willamette University on Friday night, and Lewis & Clark College on Saturday.

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 Lewis & Clark 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: Willamette University comes into the weekend with a 6-4 overall record, 2-0 in the NWC. The Bearcats have done well against a very difficult schedule and are 5-0 against NCAA Division III west region teams. They went 2-1 on a New Year's trip to California, defeating Whittier and Caltech after losing a hard-fought overtime decision at NAIA DI The Master's College. John Olinger leads the Bearcats, and ranks second in the NWC, in scoring at 18.6 points per game. He adds 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists. His backcourt partner, CJ Stuvland, scores 14.8 points per game and grabs 4.2 rebounds. Whitworth defeated Willamette in a pair of overtime thrillers last season, winning 71-66 in Salem and 87-84 in Spokane in the season finale. The Pirates currently hold a modest three game winning streak in the series.

Lewis & Clark College has not played an official game since defeating UC Santa Cruz 93-52 on December 18th in Burlingame, California. The Pioneers (4-6 overall, 0-2 NWC) did pull out an impressive 82-79 exhibition win over Simon Fraser (B.C.) at home on December 29th. Lewis & Clark is led by a pair of impressive freshmen. David Berggren leads the team in scoring (13.7 ppg) and has made 42% of his three point attempts this year. Point guard Thomas Tillery adds 11.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Whitworth and L&C split their games last season. The Pioneers held on for an 83-79 win in Spokane, but the Pirates responded with an 82-58 win in Portland. L&C will take on Whitman College in Walla Walla on Friday night.

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.