by the Whitworthian Sports Staff
The Division I Idaho State Bengals defeated the Division III Whitworth men’s basketball team on Nov. 6 after a back-and-forth game.
The Bengals led the Pirates after the first half 40-35, and for much of the second half. However, Whitworth rallied and junior guard Dustin McConnell’s three-point attempt at the end of the end of regulation bounced off the back iron to give Idaho State a 68-65 win over Whitworth.
McConnell and freshman guard George Valle led the Pirates, scoring 15 points each. McConnell also added five rebounds. Sophomore forward Taylor Farnsworth also contributed 12 points and 5 rebounds for the Pirates.
The Pirates will play next against the University of St. Thomas, at the Whitworth Fieldhouse on Nov. 17.
Swimming continues hot start to season
Both the Whitworth men’s and women’s swim teams remain undefeated after winning their first four meets.
The Pirates won every event Nov. 2 against Willamette. Sophomore Samantha Smith led the Pirates, winning two events with a time of 1:00.14 in the 100-yard butterfly and 1:08.60 in in the 100-yard breaststroke.
The men had two double event winners in Aaron Vaccaro, who won the the 50 free in 22.18 and the 100 butterfly in 52.31, and Mitchell Beck, who won the the 200 freestyle in 1:47.56 and the 100 freestyle in 49.60.
Nov. 3 matched up the Bucs against Linfield at home. The men won all 10 races and the women won 10 of the 11 races.
Nov. 9, the Pirates faced Pacific University on the road. Freshman Kori Carpenter won both the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:58.43 and the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 55.31.
The next day the Bucs faced Lewis & Clark, also on the road. Smith got the fastest time in the 200-yard butterfly so far this season, winning it in 2:15.19. The men won eight out of the 11 events. Vaccaro dominated again, swimming in the relay as well as winning the 50-yard freestyle in 22.12 and the 100-yard backstroke in 54.73.
The Pirates are now 4-0. Their next race is the Northwest Invitational on Nov. 17 at Whitman College.
Football ends season on high note
On a biting Nov. 10 afternoon at the Pine Bowl, the Whitworth football team put up more than 500 yards of offense to take down the Pioneers of Lewis & Clark 37- 20 in their final game of the 2012 season.
Junior running back DJ Tripoli had a 19-yard run into the end zone to give the Bucs the early lead.
Senior running back and team captain Ronnie Thomas exploded in the second half for the Bucs. He carried the ball across the goal line for the 11th and 12th times this season in the third and fourth quarters to give Whitworth a 23-12 lead. Less than a minute after Thomas’ second touchdown, sophomore defensive back De’ Hall intercepted a Lewis & Clark pass and ran it back 65 yards to put another seven on the board for Whitworth.
Thomas finished the game with 251 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Bryan Peterson threw for 159 yards on the day and rushed for nearly 100. Senior linebacker and team captain Scott Carr led the defense with seven tackles.
Whitworth (7-3 overall, 3-3 NWC) finishes the season fourth in the NWC.