CMS To Face Whitworth In NCAA Playoffs

The bracket for the 2009 Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament was announced Monday morning and the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men’s team will play at Whitworth University (Spokane, WA) in the first round Thursday, March 5 at 7:00 pm.

The teams met in November in the semifinals of the Lee Fulmer Tournament in Redlands and the Stags handed the Pirates a 73-68 loss. The winner will play at #2 seed University of Puget Sound.  This is the second year in a row that the SCIAC champion will play at Whitworth in the NCAA Tournament. Last season, Occidental lost at Whitworth in the second round 83-75.

Whitworth is 22-5 and finished second in the Northwest Conference regular season with a 12-4 record. The Pirates defeated Linfield 74-66 in the NWC semifinal before upsetting third-ranked Puget Sound 90-80 in the tournament championship in Tacoma.  They are a tall team with four players averaging in double figures; small forward Nate Riley (16.2 ppg) and center Nate Montgomery (14.1 ppg) lead the team. Forward Calvin Jurich leads the team with eight rebounds per game and point guard Ross Nakamura hands out over five assists per game, with a 3.04 assist-to-turnover ratio.

In the December game between the two teams, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps used hot shooting and excellent rebounding to defeat the Pirates. Chris Blees (SO, Carmichael) and Michael Bagby (JR, Coupeville, WA) each scored 16 points.

There will be several options to follow the game online.  Click below for more details:

http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Teams/Basketball_Men/Releases/08_09/LiveIndex.htm