SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth will enjoy a holiday week trip to California by hosting the Ameriprise Whitworth Classic on December 28-29 at Burlingame High School. The Pirates will then make a quick turnaround to Spokane and open Northwest Conference play against George Fox on Friday, January 2nd and Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday, January 3rd. The conference games will be the Bucs' first official home games of the season.

Whitworth, ranked 19th in the latest (Dec. 23) D3hoops.com poll, is 6-1 so far this season. The Bucs have yet to play a home game. The most recent action has been exhibition wins over a team of Whitworth Alumni (102-85), including three former NWC Players of the Year, and Red Deer College (Alberta) by a score of 89-53.

Ross Nakamura

The Pirates: Whitworth's successful start to the 2008-09 season has truly been a team effort. The Pirates lead the NWC in several statistical categories, yet not a single player leads the conference in any individual category.

Whitworth leads the NWC in scoring defense (60.4 ppg), scoring margin (+17.6), team field goal percentage (49.7%), field goal percentage defense (39.2%), and rebounding margin (+9.0). The Pirates are second in the NWC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.18).

Nationally Ranked: Without playing an official game since December 6th, Whitworth continues to be ranked 19th in the D3hoops.com poll this week. The Pirates dropped one spot from last week's poll. Whitworth finished second in the 2008 NWC Preseason Coaches Poll.

Ross Runs the Ship: Ross Nakamura (Sr., G, Moraga, Calif.) was a steadying influence as the Pirate point guard while leading the team to a 2007-08 Northwest Conference title. A transfer from Diablo Valley JC in Concord, California, Nakamura led all of NCAA Division III in assist-turnover ratio (4.1 assists per turnover) last season. He is averaging 10.5 points per game and has made 46% (10/23) of his three-point tries in 2008-09, while leading the Northwest Conference in minutes played per game (36.5). He is currently second in the NWC and 12th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.50).

Soph Shooter: David Riley has taken his game up a notch as a sophomore, leading the team in scoring average (17.2 ppg) and making 56% of his shots from the field, including 48% of his three-point tries (21/44). Riley is the only player in the NWC currently ranked in the top five individually in both three-point percentage (4th) and three-pointers made per game (2nd at 3.5). He was named MVP of the JHU Blue Jay Invitational after scoring a tournament-record 34 points in the opening win over Brockport State and leading the tournament in scoring. In Whitworth's second game of 2007-08 he broke the school record for three-pointers made in a game when he was 8 for 13 in the win over Caltech.

Big, Really Big: Whitworth's post rotation has lived up to expectations. Calvin Jurich (Sr., 6-6, P, Spokane, Wash.) has averaged 13.0 points per game and is second in the NWC in rebounding (7.7 rpg). Nate Montgomery (Jr., 6-8, P, Sammamish, Wash.) is second in the team in scoring (16.8 ppg) and is fifth in the NWC in rebounding (7.0 rpg). Felix Friedt (Fr., 6-8, P, Dusseldorf, Germany) has posted solid minutes off of the bench, averaging 6.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

Live Stats: Live statistics of all games played in the Whitworth Fieldhouse will be available all season by opening the following link in your web browser:
http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Teams/Basketball/livestats/xlive.htm

The Opponents: Whitworth will take on Simpson (Iowa) and Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) at the Ameriprise Whitworth Classic. Fellow NWC member Puget Sound will be the fourth participant in the tournament. On Sunday Whitworth will play Simpson at 1:00 p.m., followed by UPS taking on Gustavus Adolphus at 3:00 p.m. Monday's games have Simpson and UPS tipping off at Noon with Whitworth taking on Gustavus at 2:00 p.m. All games will take place at the Burlingame (Calif.) High School Gym. Burlingame is located a mile south of the San Francisco International Airport.

Simpson College, of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletics Conference, comes into the tournament with a 4-5 record. The Storm have played a challenging schedule with three of their losses coming to teams currently ranked in the D3hoops.com top-10. Junior center Tim Dunlavy leads the team in scoring (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg). Whitworth and Simpson have never played.

Gustavus Adolphus, a member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference, is 3-3 overall this season. The Gusties are 2-1 in MIAC games, coming off of a 52-50 loss at home to Augsburg on December 10th. Junior wing Jesse Van Sickle averages 12.8 points per game. Gustavus defeated Whitworth 65-55 in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Division III tournament on the way to an appearance in the championship game in the teams' only previous meeting.

George Fox heads into the New Year with a 3-5 record. The Bruins fell to NAIA DII Northwest University 76-64 at home on December 13th in their most recent game. GFU presents a balanced attack with three-point specialists Jack Martin and Evan Atwater, both juniors, leading the way with 15.9 and 13.5 points per game, respectively. Last season Whitworth swept the Bruins, winning 70-58 in Spokane and 77-69 in Newberg.

Pacific figures to factor into the NWC title chase this season. The Boxers (5-3) are coming off of a 92-89 win at NAIA Concordia on December 16th. Pacific presents a terrific inside-outside combination in 6-6 forward Gerald Howe, who averages 19.8 points per game and makes 46% of his three-point tries, and 6-7 post Ross Barlett, who adds 13.4 points per game and grabs 7.5 rebounds per game. Last winter Whitworth beat Pacific 61-44 at home, but the Boxers knocked off the Pirates 85-76 in Forest Grove.

The Coach: In seven season's leading the Pirates, Whitworth head coach Jim Hayford has averaged 20 wins a season for a team that can only schedule 25 games a year. Now 146-47 (.756) in his eighth season at Whitworth (183-72 overall in his tenth year as a head coach), Hayford is only the third coach in school history to reach the 100 win plateau. Hayford has won three NWC Coach of the Year awards at Whitworth (2003, 2007, 2008) and led the Pirates to three conference championships.

Coach Hayford's Quotes:

On the Ameriprise Whitworth Classic: "I'm looking forward to seeing how we compete against great west region competition. Both teams are coached by men I have great respect for."

On NWC Opening Weekend: "I'm glad we get to start conference play at home. There are few teams in the country that have seen their home court less than we have."

2008-09 Schedule

2008-09 Roster

2008-09 Statistics