Complete box score

SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth outscored visiting Pacific 26-4 over the final six minutes to pull away for an 82-51 Northwest Conference men’s basketball win on Saturday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Bo Gregg

Bo Gregg (Jr., F, Lewiston, Idaho) led four Pirates in double figures with 20 points and added eight rebounds. Calvin Jurich (Sr., P, Spokane, Wash.) had a strong night with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Ross Nakamura (Sr., G, Moraga, Calif.) scored 11 of his 16 points after halftime and dished a season high 10 assists. Nate Montgomery (Jr., P, Sammamish, Wash.), Whitworth’s leading scorer this season, finished with 11 points but struggled to a 3 for 12 shooting night.

Garold Howe posted 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to lead the Boxers (5-5 overall, 0-2 NWC), while Todd Hinderman added 10 points and nine rebounds. Micah Mooney finished with 11 points and dished three assists.

Whitworth (10-1, 2-0), ranked 19th in the latest D3hoops.com top-25, shot 46% from the field while holding Pacific to 31.5%. The Pirates outrebounded the Boxers 43-38 and had 10 steals while forcing 16 Pacific turnovers.

Pacific led in the opening moments, but Montgomery made a pair of free throws to give Whitworth a 13-6 lead. Hinderman converted a three-point play to get the Boxers back within 16-14, but that is as close as Pacific would get the rest of the game. However the Boxers never led the Pirates get comfortable until the final minutes of the game.

Whitworth stretched the lead to 37-25 at halftime, and went up 44-29 early in the second half after a jumper by Nakamura. But the Boxers fought back to within 49-44 with under 10 minutes to play after Howe hit a three-pointer to finish off an 8-0 run for Pacific. Micah Mooney scored with 5:49 to play to get the Boxers within 56-47, but then Whitworth began the 26-4 streak that ended the game. Nakamura and Jurich sparked the run by scoring 11 of the Bucs’ next 13 points. The final score was the largest margin of the game for Whitworth.

Whitworth, winners of five in a row, will hit the road to play Willamette next Friday night at 8:00 p.m. Pacific will play its NWC home opener on Friday against Pacific Lutheran.