The Whitworth men’s basketball team picked up its  first win of the season last Friday against Mary Hardin Baylor.  After hanging on to a 26-24 lead at the half, the Pirates pulled ahead by 10 to make it 62-52 with 3:23 left in the game, and never looked back.  While Crusaders made a few runs towards the end, Whitworth never let them get closer than five as they finished with the final score  70-61.

Junior Dustin McConnell was the leading scorer for Whitworth, putting up a career-high 18 points, including a number of pivotal free throws down the stretch.  Junior Colton McCargar also had a crucial outing hitting a number of 3-pointers to finish with 13.  Senior Mack Larkin and freshman George Valle had strong performances as well, both finishing with 12.

Whitworth improved its free throw performance after, shooting 15-23 against St. Thomas and 11-16 against Idaho State.  Free throws were not a problem for the Pirates this time around, shooting 13-15 from the line.

The Whitworth men will play Montana Tech on November 28th in its first road game of the regular season.

Contact Connor Soudani at [email protected].