SPOKANE, Wash. –Lewis & Clark College men's basketball was able to stay within two positions for the first 12 and half minutes of the game, but then Whitworth University began to pull away and never looked back as the Northwest Conference-leading Pirates easily won 93-73 Saturday night in Whitworth Fieldhouse.
THE BASICS
Whitworth 93, Lewis & Clark 73
(Lewis & Clark 6-15, 2-10 NWC)
(Whitworth 14-7, 10-2 NWC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Juniors
Griffin Datcher IV and
Sam Henderson combined for 40 of the Pioneers' 73 points in the loss. Datcher IV earned a career-high 20 points on 8-13 shooting while going 2-2 from beyond the arc and at the charity stripe. He also added five rebounds and two assists. Henderson tied his career-high 20-point performance from last weekend against George Fox University. He shot 9-15 from the floor with two treys, three rebounds and a steal.
Seven Pioneers made up the remainder of the points, registering at least three points on the stat sheet, led by junior
Isaac Ticeson with eight points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
Juniors
Nate Berg and
Mikey Medlock Jr. had five points apiece while
Khalil Glover-Dodson and
Nik Berry each hit a three-pointer. Sophomore
Kody Uyesugi joined Berg and Medlock Jr with five points, while Uyesugi and Medlock Jr. led the team with three assists in the game. Junior
Sebastian DePrez (4 points) led the Pioneers on the glass with six rebounds.
The Pirates and Pioneers traded baskets to open the before Whitworth broke up a 4-4 tie and took a 12-6 lead. Datcher IV hit a three to cut the deficit to three at 16:23, and Lewis & Clark would not let the lead get larger than five for the next nine minutes. The Pioneers would pull as close as one point twice in that time frame, first at 13:51 (16-15) and then just right at ten minutes making it 22-21 and forcing a Pirate timeout. Lewis & Clark was never able to take the lead in the game but got as close as 28-26 with 8:25 to go before the half. Whitworth then outscored the Pioneers 25-12 in the final eight minutes and took a 53-38 lead into halftime.
Lewis & Clark slowly started to chip away to start the second half, and a 6-0 run that ended with a jumper from Uyesugi at 14:05 cut the deficit to nine, 58-49. Whitworth was hot, though, as they shot almost 60% (37-62) for the game and 61% (14-23) from three, and just over seven minutes later, they had a 79-59 lead. The Pirates took their largest game lead at 3:07, 93-66, but the Pioneers closed out the game on a 7-0 run to make it 93-73.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Datcher IV (16) and Henderson (13) combined for 29 of the Pioneers' 38 first-half points.
- The Pioneers attempted a season-low four free throws, making all four; the Pirates finished 5-11 from the line.
- Berry scored his first points against a Northwest Conference opponent this season and for only the second time in his career. He scored two points against Whitworth on January 22, 2022.
WHO'S NEXT
The Pioneers will host Puget Sound on Friday for their Orange Out game at 8 p.m. Lewis & Clark basketball is bringing awareness to ERACISM during their penultimate home game. The Pioneers are also partnering with women's basketball and the Center for Social Change and Community Involvement to raise money for Harper's Playground.
