Whitworth eliminated in second round of NCAA Division III Tournament
Whitworth had two looks to advance to the Sweet 16, but both shots came up short as the Pirates fell to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 69-67 in the second round of NCAA Division III Tournament in Thousand Oaks, California.
Just 24 hours after defeating host California Lutheran in an overtime thriller, Whitworth (20-9) returned to face the other school in the tournament representing the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The pendulum swung between the teams in the final 12 minutes but struggles from the free-throw line proved too costly for the Pirates.
“It was another hard-fought game,” Whitworth coach Damion Jablonski said.
“I thought our guys battled and showed a ton of heart, and I’m really proud of everything that they did.
“Obviously, you look at the stat sheet and there are some things we didn’t do well enough to win, but we gave ourselves a chance all the way to the end.”
Trailing by two points with the ball and 14 seconds left, Whitworth sophomore guard Diego Jaques was off on a straightaway 3-pointer, and senior forward Jake Holtz missed another desperation 3-pointer before the buzzer sounded.
“I’m glad we stayed in it,” Holtz said. “We executed our game plan for the most part and had a chance to win it at the end.
“We had two good looks to win the game, and they just didn’t fall. But I’m proud of our guys and glad that we made it this far.”
Whitworth jumped to an early 14-4 lead thanks to three quick 3-pointers from senior guard Sullivan Menard and Holtz.
The Stags (22-6), who were solid on both sides of the floor in the SCIAC, promptly struck back, building a five-point lead before taking a 33-32 advantage into halftime.
Claremont, which defeated California Lutheran in the conference championship to secure an automatic bid, knocked off St. Thomas (Texas) on Friday night.
While Whitworth found spurts of offense in the second half, the Pirates never built a solid lead. Their troubles from the free-throw line only made it harder, shooting 7-of-17 (41%).
Neither team had great success from deep, but the Stags struggled more, hitting only 3 of 17 3-point attempts.
Menard, who had five of the Pirates’ eight 3-pointers, had several baskets and plays in big moments to keep Whitworth in the game.
Menard led all scorers with 27 points while adding seven rebounds. Holtz added 14 points to go with seven rebounds.
The Pirates again played without Northwest Conference Player of the Year and starting point guard Jojo Anderson, who has dealt with a shoulder injury.
Claremont graduate guard Josh Angle, who won SCIAC Player of the Year, gave the Pirates issues all night, racking up 21 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Three other Stags hit double figures in scoring.
Claremont will get Nebraska Wesleyan in the Sweet 16.
It was a year of ups and downs for the Pirates, who overcame an early four-game losing streak to go on and defeat Whitman to take the conference tournament title last weekend.
“I felt like the (losing streak) really helped us build character and find a way to come together and be better as a team,” Holtz said. “… We knew we had to stick together and we were confident in our guys and our team and were able to, at the end, be successful and accomplish our goals of winning the conference tournament and getting out of the first round this year.”
Holtz, a second-team All-Northwest Conference selection, has stated his intentions to return for a fifth season.
Jablonski called the season a “huge success.”
“We had an opportunity to bring home two trophies and cut down the nets on two occasions and played some incredible games in front of a great fan base,” he said. “I think our fans really rallied around us as the season grew.
“Every season has to come to an end, and it’s unfortunate that it had to come tonight, but the way they represented the school, I’m extremely proud of them.”