SPOKANE, Wash. -- The second season begins for four Northwest Conference men's basketball teams on Thursday and second-seeded Whitworth will host third-seeded Linfield in one of the NWC semi-finals. Top-seeded Puget Sound will host fourth-seeded Lewis & Clark in the other semi-final on Thursday. The winners will play on Saturday at the home of the highest remaining seed for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament. Thursday's game will tip off at 7:00 p.m. in the Whitworth Fieldhouse. Whitworth heads into the game 20-5 overall and the Bucs finished second in the Northwest Conference with a 12-4 record. It is the first time in the distinguished history of Pirate basketball that the team has put together four consecutive 20-win seasons.
Last Sunday Whitworth overcame early deficits of 18-4 and 21-7 to defeat Lewis & Clark 83-78. The win gave the Pirates sole possession of second place in the standings and the right to host Thursday's game. David Riley (So., G, Palo Alto, Calif.) scored 21 to lead the Pirates, while Calvin Jurich (Sr., P, Spokane, Wash.) posted his sixth double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Ross Nakamura (Sr., G, Moraga, Calif.) added 16 points and eight assists. Whitworth heads into the NWC playoffs having finished the second half of the Northwest Conference schedule with a 7-1 record. Live Coverage: The Linfield game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Online coverage includes:
Statistically Speaking: In a classic case of the "whole being greater than the sum of the parts", Whitworth continues to lead the Northwest Conference in several team statistical categories, yet has only a couple individuals leading the NWC in any statistic. The Pirates top the conference stats in scoring defense (67.0 points allowed), field goal percentage (49.8), field goal percentage defense (40.3), three-point percentage (39.9), rebound margin (+6.1), assists (16.4) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.25). All of those stats point to the pillars of head coach Jim Hayford's emphasis with the Pirates - efficient offense and strong defense. Ross Nakamura and Tim Sellereit (Sr., G, Bellingham, Wash.) are the only Pirates leading the NWC in any individual category. Nakamura leads in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.56 assists for every turnover, which also ranks 2nd in NCAA Division III, and in minutes played per game (36.42). Sellereit tops the NWC in free throw percentage (88.7%). Ross Runs the Ship: Ross Nakamura 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 11.0 points per game and has made 40.2% (41/102) of his three-point tries in 2008-09 (8th in the NWC), while leading the Northwest Conference in minutes played per game (36.4). He is currently first in the NWC and 2nd in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.56).
Sharp Shooter: David Riley has taken his game up a notch as a sophomore. He leads the team in scoring average (16.5 ppg, 5th in the NWC) and is making 55.4% of his shots from the field, including 46.2% of his three-point tries (73/158). Riley is the only player in the NWC currently ranked in the top three individually in both three-point percentage (2nd) and three-pointers made per game (2nd at 3.04). He was named MVP of the Johns Hopkins Blue Jay Invitational after scoring a tournament-record 34 points in the opening win over Brockport State and leading the tournament in scoring. In this season's win over Pacific Lutheran, Riley topped his career high with 37 points, 34 in the first half when he tied his own school record for three-pointers made (8) and led the Bucs to a 57-14 halftime lead. Big, Really Big: Whitworth's post combination has lived up to expectations. Calvin Jurich (6'-6") and Nate Montgomery (6'-8", Jr., P, Sammamish, Wash.) have combined to average 26.8 points and 13.7 rebounds per game. Jurich is third in the NWC in rebounding average (7.7) and is also a Pirate leader in both assists (2nd on the team) and steals (2nd). Jurich has six double-doubles and Montgomery has five this season, the second and highest totals in the NWC.
The Opponents: Linfield (12-13 overall, 10-6 NWC) comes into the NWC tournament on a four-game winning streak, playing the team's best basketball of the season. The Wildcats crushed Pacific Lutheran (96-67) and Pacific (92-74) at home last weekend to move into a third place tie with Lewis & Clark. Linfield has the tiebreaker for the third seed based on a split with Willamette, while L&C was swept by the Bearcats. Sophomore post KC Wiser leads the team in scoring (15.3 points per game) and rebounding (7.2 rebounds per contest). Senior forward Erik Olson is the current NWC Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week and averages 15.3 points per game. He makes 43% of his three-point tries and set a school record with 62 three-pointers this season. Junior guard Cody Tesoro adds 12.3 points per game, but has averaged 18 points over the course of the current four-game winning streak. Linfield and Whitworth split a pair of meetings this season. The Wildcats jumped to a 16-point first half lead and held on to beat the Pirates 88-79 in McMinnville on January 10th. On February 7th Whitworth outscored Linfield 50-35 in the second half of an 82-70 win in Spokane. NWC Tournament History: During Jim Hayford's tenure as men's basketball coach at Whitworth, he has never missed the Northwest Conference tournament. Other than the two seasons in which the NWC did not have a post-season tournament (2003-04, 2004-05), the Pirates are making their sixth straight appearance under Hayford. Whitworth is the only NWC school to make all six of those tournaments, and up through the first five the Bucs have won at least one game in each appearance. The Coach: In his eighth season 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 160-51 (.758) at Whitworth (197-76 overall in his tenth year as a head coach), Hayford is only the third coach in school history to reach the 100 win plateau and the second-winningest coach in school history. 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 NWC Playoffs: "Linfield is playing great basketball. It will take our best effort to win. The other game in Tacoma should be a good one also. Lewis & Clark gave us all we could handle in our own gym last Sunday." Go to Athletics Home Page > Men's Basketball > Sports Releases > |
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