SPOKANE, Wash. -- There have been six Northwest Conference men's basketball tournaments in the eight years that Jim Hayford has been the head coach of the Whitworth men's basketball team. And for the sixth time the Pirates will be playing in the tournament championship game. Whitworth will take on third-ranked Puget Sound, the regular season NWC champion, for the right to automatically represent the conference in the 2009 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament. Saturday's game will tip off at 7:00 p.m. in the UPS Memorial Fieldhouse. Whitworth heads into the game with a 21-5 record, while the Loggers are 24-2. Ticket Information: $7 for adults, $4 for student/seniors, Puget Sound and Whitworth students free with valid identification.
Last night Whitworth overcame a strong effort by third-seeded Linfield and defeated the Wildcats 74-66. The Pirates outscored Linfield 16-6 over the final 4:19 and Nate Montgomery (Jr., P, Sammamish, Wash.) had 14 of those points. He finished with career highs of 31 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots. Calvin Jurich (Sr., P, Spokane, Wash.) added his seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds and Ross Nakamura (Sr., G, Moraga, Calif.) scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half to help Whitworth overcome a 35-30 halftime deficit. Live Coverage: The UPS-Whitworth game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. 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%). The Opponent: Puget Sound (24-2) became the first NWC team to finish 16-0 in Northwest Conference play and the third-ranked Loggers are riding a school-record 19 game winning streak. UPS leads the NWC in scoring average (86.3 points per game) and scoring margin (+16.3), but the Loggers work hard on defense also - leading the NWC in both blocked shots (3.46 per game) and steals (10.9 per game). UPS defeated Lewis & Clark 86-74 in last night's other semi-final. The Loggers are talented and deep, but three seniors drive the machine. Forward Jason Foster averages 14.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while fellow forward Robert Krauel adds 14.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest. Point guard Antwan Williams scores 12.8 points per game and leads the NWC in assists with 5.5 per game. Puget Sound won both regular season meetings with Whitworth. The Loggers built a 19-point second half lead before holding off a pair of Pirate rallies in an 89-77 win in Spokane on January 16th. The game on February 14th in Tacoma played out in similar fashion as Whitworth cut a 14-point deficit to four twice before losing 81-71. 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 championship game appearance under Hayford. Whitworth is the only NWC school to make all six of those tournaments, and the Bucs have won at least one game each tournament. 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 161-51 (.759) at Whitworth (198-76 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. Go to Athletics Home Page > Men's Basketball > Sports Releases > |
