The Whitworthian

Issue date: 2/20/07 Last Updated: 8/9/07

Junior forward Ryan Symes drives to the basket during Whitworth's 81-66 win over the Willamette University Bearcats last Friday night. Symes contributed 10 points and nine rebounds in the win.

Last Friday was a memorable night for the Whitworth Pirates, as the men's team defeated the Willamette Bearcats 81-66 to clinched a share of the Northwest Conference regular season title.

Knowing they needed a win to clinch that share, the pressure was on the at the start of the game, as the Bearcats jumped out to an early lead of 8-1. The Pirates responded with senior guards Bryan Williams and James Jones scoring five points a piece as Whitworth went on a 12-0 run.

The first half continued to go back and forth as neither team could separate from the other. The teams went into the half with the Pirates leading the Bearcats 34-33.

The second half started with a barrage of points from the Pirates.

Six minutes into the second half, the Pirates used a 14-2 spurt to gain a comfortable 48-35 lead. The Pirates slowly gained supremacy of the contest. During the second half, the Pirates shot 66.7 percent from the floor on 18 of 27 shooting.

The 14-2 run also kept the Bearcats at bay as they never broke the double-digit lead the Pirates maintained during the half.

Senior guard Jon Young exemplified the hot shooting during the second half with a minute and a half left in the game. With the shot clock winding down to three seconds, Young received a pass and shot a fadeaway from about four feet beyond the three-point line and banked in the shot as the shot clock expired. That was one of his two buzzer-beating three-pointers of the second half.

The Pirates timely shooting produced five scorers in double figures. Young led all scorers with 19 points and seven rebounds while Jones pitched in 13. Junior forward Colin Willemsen's 12 points off the bench proved to be a spark as senior center Kevin Hasenfus was injured earlier in the contest. Hasenfus returned to the game but played a limited role due to the earlier injury slowing him down. Williams produced 10 points and eight assists, while junior forward Ryan Symes rounded out the scoring in double figures with 10 points to go along with nine rebounds.

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