Complete box score and play by play

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Nate Montgomery led four players in double figures to help Whitworth knock off host Johns Hopkins 70-60 to win the season-opening Blue Jay Invitational on Saturday night at Goldfarb Gym.

Nate Montgomery

David Riley

Montgomery posted team highs of 19 points and nine rebounds, while tournament MVP David Riley added 16 points for the Pirates. Ross Nakamura had 14 points and five assists and Bo Gregg added 11 points and seven rebounds for Whitworth (2-0).

The final score belied the close game. After JHU jumped to a quick 15-8 lead, the Pirates went on an 8-0 run and took a 16-15 lead on Montgomery's lay in. Nakamura hit a three-pointer to give Whitworth its largest lead of the half at 23-18, but Phil Beggins made a pair of free throws to tie the score 23-23 and neither team led by more than a bucket the rest of the half, which ended with the Blue Jays ahead 31-30.

The teams traded leads nine times over the first 14 minutes of the second half. But then Riley finally got hot for the Pirates, hitting back to back three-pointers to turn a 52-52 tie into a 58-53 lead for Whitworth. The Bucs never trailed again. Nakamura's three-point play with a minute left in the game gave Whitworth a 68-58 lead, essentially clinching the game. Nakamura joined Riley on the all-tournament team.

Next weekend Whitworth will look to continue its hot start to the 2008-09 season when the Pirates fly back across the country to California to compete in the Caltech/Oxy Thanksgiving Classic. On Friday Whitworth will take on co-host Caltech at Occidental's gym. On Saturday the event moves to Caltech's gym in Pasadena where the Pirates will play Chapman University.

Riley was named MVP of the Blue Jay Invitational after scoring a career-high and tournament-record 34 points in Friday night's win over Brockport State and finishing with a total of 50 points in the two games.

Whitworth is 4-0 all-time against Caltech and 0-1 against Chapman after losing its season opener to the Panthers last season.