Box Score Box Score
SPOKANE, Wash. – Despite outscoring Whitman College in the second half, a dismal first period put Northwestern out of reach in a 93-67 final at the Whitworth University Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. NWC will try to round out its Washington trip with a better performance against eighth-ranked Whitworth in a rare Sunday game.
The Eagles found themselves in a hole early, as Whitman scored 23 points before Northwestern's total made it to five almost midway through the first half. Four Missionary baskets in that stretch were three-pointers, which didn't help NWC's case. Shortly after Northwestern had cut Whitman's 23-point advantage down to 18, the Missionaries went into the locker room on a hot streak, draining four threes to lead 52-25 at the halftime break.
Starting from scratch, Northwestern went to work in the second half.
Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) scored four of his 29 points on back-to-back baskets to cut the margin to 28.
Brent Kettenacker (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) followed with a pair of free throws before an eventual Chitwood layup made the score 80-59 with 4:49 to play. That was a close as the Eagles would get though, as the buzzer went off with the Missionaries leading by 26.
Regardless of the lopsided score, the Eagles didn't shoot poorly, as evidenced by their 51 percent mark for the night. NWC did struggle from behind the three-point line, going a combined 4-of-18, while committing a season-high 25 turnovers that led to 33 Whitman points.
Chitwood finished with a game-high 29 points, making 12 of his 18 attempts. Kory Kiekoefer added 11 points and six rebounds for the Eagles.
The Missionaries shot 49 percent from the floor and an even better 54 percent from long range, making 14 of their 26 three-point attempts. David Michaels led Whitman with 17 points.
Northwestern, whose record fell to an even 5-5 on the season with the loss, will get an opportunity to bounce back on Sunday. That opportunity won't be easy though, as the Eagles will face one of the toughest NCAA Division III teams in the nation in their own gymnasium. Whitworth is coming off of its only loss of the season, which came over a week ago against Montana Tech. NWC and the Pirates will tip off at 4 p.m. PST.
