6th-Ranked Pirates Pound Bruins For Best Start Ever

George Fox (6-6 overall, 2-2 NWC) hosts Willamette University on Friday.

Photo: Whitworth Athletics

NEWBERG - Running their record to 13-0 for the best start in team history, the Whitworth Pirates jumped out to an early lead and were never threatened in an 83-53 rout of the George Fox in Northwest Conference men’s basketball action Saturday night at the Wheeler Sports Center’s Miller Gym.

In topping the 12-0 start by the 2002-03 Whitworth team, the Pirates jumped out to a 7-1 lead, and reached a double-digit lead for good on a layup by Jon Young to make it 18-7 with 10:17 left in the first half.

The Pirates hit a 20-point lead with 6:32 to go when Ryan Symes’ jumper made it 29-9.

The Pirates shot .481 (13-27) while holding the struggling Bruins to a .167 figure (5-30) in building up a 42-13 halftime lead behind Symes’ 15 first-half points.

The Bruins battled the Pirates on virtually-even terms throughout the second half, being outscored only 41-40, but the damage had been done in the first half.

Whitworth’s largest margin was 36 points when Calvin Jurich made a rebound basket to for a 68-32 advantage with 6:41 remaining.

The nation’s best-shooting team at .548 coming in, Whitworth managed a ..481 mark this time, making 26-54 from the field, but they didn’t need more accuracy as George Fox wound up at only .298 for the game on 17-57 shooting.

The Pirates also owned the boards with 43 rebounds to 30 for the Bruins.

Chris Parker scored 13 points and Mark Metzler 12 to lead the Bruins.

Brady Strutz had a team-high eight rebounds, Brent Satern handed out three assists, and Metzler made three steals.

Symes finished with 24 points for the Pirates to lead all scorers, and also had a game-high nine rebounds.

James Jones added 17 points and Young had 10.

Bryan Williams, the national leader in assists, had five this time around.

George Fox (6-6, NWC 2-2) hosts Willamette University and Whitworth (13-0, NWC 4-0) returns home to play 13th-ranked University of Puget Sound in a showdown for first place in the league Friday, both games at 8:00 PM following women’s NWC contests at 6:00 PM.

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