The Pioneer men's basketball team finished off their sweep of
the weekend games against Eastern Washington schools with a 67-51
(box score)
victory over the Whitman Missionaries. Tyson Papenfuss scored 23
points to lead the Pioneers.
The Whitman Missionaries jumped out to an early six-point lead,
13-7, on a three-pointer by Graham Brewer with 14:42 left in the
first half. The Pioneers took control of the game, keeping Whitman
off the scoreboard for seven minutes while posting eighteen points
of their own, capped by a layup by Tyson Papenfuss (junior,
Clackamas, Ore.), to give the Pioneers a 25-13 lead. The
Missionaries' Chris Faidley ended the drought for the Missionaries,
hitting a three-pointer with 7:47 left in the half. The
Missionaries pulled within four, 29-25, on a three by Garth
Brandal, with 4:34 left in the half, but a three-pointer by Gene
Rivera and four more points from Papenfuss helped the Pioneers take
a 37-28 lead into the break.
The Pioneers opened the second half on a 7-0 run, four more
points by Papenfuss and a three-pointer from Joey Toboni (senior,
San Francisco, Calif.). The Pioneers extended their lead to 25,
64-39, on a three-pointer by Mark Robinowitz (senior, Portland,
Ore.) with 8:14 left in the game. With most of the Pioneer starters
on the bench, Whitman outscored the Pioneers 12-3 the rest of the
game, but the Pioneers walked away with a 67-51 victory.
The Pioneer defense shut down the Northwest Conference's most
prolific scorer. Chris Faidley, who avaerages over 24 points per
game, made just three field goals in the contest, scoring 10 points
with five assists.
Garth Brandal led the Missionaires in scoring, putting up 16.
Graham Brewer scored eight points with 10 rebounds.
For the Pioneers, Tyson Papenfuss scored 23 points, hitting 10
of this 13 field goal attempts. Papenfuss also had five rebounds,
two blocks, and three steals.
Mark Robinowitz scored the 1,000th point of his career on his
three-pointer that extended the Pioneer lead to 25 in the second
half. He ended the game with nine points and two steals.
With the victory, the Pioneers improve to 13-7 (7-5 NWC) and
moved into a three-way tie for third place in the Northwest
Conference. The Missionaries are 4-13 (0-12 NWC).
The Pioneers play their final regular-season home game of the
year, hosting George Fox Friday night, February 15, at the Pamplin
Sports Center. Whitman is at home next Friday, hosting Puget Sound.
