Complete box score

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth men's basketball team accomplished two important goals on Sunday afternoon, but the Pirates had to work hard to acheive both with an 83-78 win over visiting Lewis & Clark in a key Northwest Conference men's basketball game that officially ended the league's regular season.

Calvin Jurich

David Riley

Whitworth improved to 20-5 overall, 12-4 in the NWC, earning a 20-win season for the fourth straight year. It is the first time in school history the men's basketball team has put together four straight 20-win seasons. In addition, and more important in relation to immediate concerns for the Pirates, Whitworth secured second place in the NWC standings and will host Linfield in the conference tournament semifinals on Thursday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

L&C (16-9, 10-6) had a chance to earn the second seed to the tournament with a win today and the Pioneers started the game by making six of their first seven three-point attempts for a 21-7 lead with 13:52 to play. David Berggren scored 11 of L&C's first 21 points.

But Whitworth finally woke up, led by Calvin Jurich (Sr., P, Spokane, Wash.) inside, to trade baskets with the Pioneers. Berggren hit another three to put L&C up 30-18 with 10:02 to go in the half when Whitworth went on a 19-2 run to take a 37-32 lead. The Pirates hit five straight three-pointers, two from David Riley (So., G, Palo Alto, Calif.) during the run. Whitworth eventually took a 46-44 lead into halftime despite 17 points and five three-pointers by Berggren.

While Berggren led L&C in the first half, Tyson Pappenfus took over for the Pioneers in the second period, scoring 14 of his 21 points after the break. His three-pointer from the corner gave Lewis & Clark a 57-53 lead almost seven minutes into the half. The Pioneers took their largest lead of the second period at 68-63 when Berggren canned to free throws with just over six minutes left. But Jurich and Ross Nakamura led the Pirates on an 8-0 run that gave Whitworth a 71-68 lead with 3:30 to play.

From the point Lewis & Clark led 68-63, the Pioneers would not score another basket until James Hollins hit a three with two seconds left for their final points. Seven of their final ten points came at the free throw line, but L&C missed six shots from the field over that time.

Tim Sellereit (Sr., G, Bellingham, Wash.) made the most important offensive play for Whitworth when he drove to the basket and scored as he was being fouled. His three-point play gave the Pirates a 76-72 lead with 50 seconds to play. Sellereit and Nakamura combined to go 4 for 4 from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to secure the win.

Riley scored 21 to lead the Pirates, while Jurich posted his sixth double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Nakamura added 16 points and eight assists. Sellereit totaled 11 points and Bo Gregg (Jr., F, Lewiston, Idaho) had 10 points off of the bench.

In addition to the 21 points by Poppenfus, Berggren added 19 points, but only scored two after halftime. James Hollins added 16 points and Drake Green had 12 points and six rebounds. After L&C made 10 of 18 three-pointers in the first half, the Pioneers made 4 of 11 in the second period.

While Whitworth hosts Linfield at 7:00 p.m. in one semifinal on Thursday, Lewis & Clark will travel to Tacoma to take on NWC champion and top-seeded Puget Sound at 8:00 p.m.