HILLSBORO, Ore. – Following a 2020-21 athletic season and academic year like no other, men’s basketball returns to the Northwest Conference (NWC) beginning Friday, November 12. All nine teams are set to return to the court in 2021-22 after the official NWC basketball season was cancelled last year.
Linfield has been selected as the Northwest Conference frontrunner for the 2021-22 season, as voted on by conference head coaches. The Wildcats earned 61 points and five first-place votes. Whitworth ranks second in the poll with 60 points and four first place votes.
Pacific Lutheran lands the third spot on the list with 49 points, while Whitman received 40 points to rank fourth. Lewis & Clark earned 30 points to rank fifth followed by Pacific’s (Ore.) and Puget Sound with 26 points landing them in a tie for sixth. George Fox (24 pts.) and Willamette (8 pts) round out the poll.
Conference play will begin Friday, December 3
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Below are key returners to watch from each team as well as statistical highlights and NWC accolades from 2019.
KEY RETURNERS/PLAYERS TO WATCH
George Fox
*Brendan Ritschard | SR | G |
Kalu Stricklin | JR | W | 2019: Started in 23 games played as a sophomore… Averaged 9.8 points/game on 41.9 FG%, 25.4 3FG%, and 74.6 FT%... Grabbed a career-high 109 rebounds… Blocked 12 shots, third-most on the team… Scored in double-figures 16 times… Tallied a career-best 19 points against Linfield on Jan. 31, 2020.
Davon Walker | JR | G | 2019: Appeared in 23 games, all as a reserve point guard… Averaged 35.1 FG%, 23% 3FG%, and 2.3 points/game.
Lewis & Clark
Ryan Cibull | SR | G | 2019: Played in 23 games… Finished with 78 points, 29 rebounds, and 38 assists… Had 10 points, two rebounds and one assist against Willamette on Jan. 28… Had eight points, two rebounds, and two assists against NW Indian College on Dec. 10.
Brenden Patrick | JR | G | 2019: Played in 25 games… Finished with 224 points, 64 rebounds, 26 assists, and 19 steals… Had 19 points and two rebounds at George Fox on Feb. 21… Had 24 points, five rebounds, and two assists against Whitman on Feb. 8… Had 19 points and four rebounds against Puget Sound on Jan. 18… Had 17 points and two assists against Pomona Pitzer on Nov. 30.
Grant Stewart | SO | F | 2019: Played in 22 games… Finished with 70 points, 62 rebounds, 12 steals, and 10 blocks… Had seven points, two rebounds, was 100% from the field (3-3) and was 100% from the free throw line (1-1) at Pacific on Jan. 31… Had a season career high 13 points, 18 rebounds and one assist against NW Indian College on Dec. 10.
Linfield
Aaron Baune | SR | F | 2019: Letter winner… Started all 12 games… Averaged 10.8 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game… Totaled 28 assists, 10 steals and seven blocks… Scored season-best 19 points at Warner Pacific, March 26 and George Fox, April 9… Grabbed 12 rebounds against the Bruins, April 9.
Carson Bonine | JR | G | 2019: Letter winner… Appeared in 11 games… Averaged 6.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game… Totaled 30 assists and 12 steals… Scored 12 points against Pacific, April 23.
Alex Jaczko | JR | F | 2019: Letter winner… Saw action in all 12 games… Averaged 5.6 points per game… Totaled 21 rebounds and nine blocks… Scored 10 points at Pacific, April 10.
Pacific
*Ethan Moss | SR | G |
Mario Mora | SR | G | 2019: Appeared in 24 games for the Boxers this season making four game starts. Scored 93 points on the season, averaging 3.9 per game. Had seven offensive and ten defensive rebounds throughout the season. Made 11 steals on the season.
*Antoine Stitt | JR | G |
Pacific Lutheran
*Tyler Ashmore | SR | F |
Jordan Thomas | JR | G | 2019: Appeared in all 26 games for the Lutes this season making the start in all but one of them. Averaged 12.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game on the season. Had a season high 25 points against Pacific in one game and a season high 13 rebounds in the other game against Pacific. Was named Honorable Mention All NWC at the end of the regular season
Brett Williams | JR | G/F | 2019: Appeared in 25 games for the Lutes this season. Averaged 1.6 points per game. Had a season high eight points against Warner Pacific
Puget Sound
Grant Erickson | JR | F | 2019: Erickson scored 19 points with one 3-pointer, 8 rebounds and 2 assists during the Puget Sound win over Pacific (Ore.) (Feb. 8).
Cal Hansen | SR | C | 2019: During the game against UC Santa Cruz Hansen had 10 points with 4 rebounds and 2 assists (Nov. 15)... Hansen scored 12 points with 4 rebounds and 1 assist (Nov. 30)... Hansen scored 16 points with 3 rebounds in the game vs. Wis.-Eau Claire (Dec. 1)... During the win over Redlands Hansen scored 15 points, with 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist (Dec. 7)... 15 points and 7 rebounds for Hansen in the win over La Verne (Dec. 8)... Hansen scored 20 points with 10 rebounds and 1 assist in the Puget Sound win over Evergreen St. (Dec. 11)... In the game vs. Whitworth Hansen scored 12 points with 9 rebounds (Jan. 4)... 11 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists for Hansen in the game vs. Pacific (Ore.) (Jan. 10)... During the Puget Sound win over Linfield Hansen scored 10 points and had 6 rebounds with 2 assists (Jan. 11)... In the game against Lewis & Clark Hansen scored 15 points, with 10 rebounds and 1 assist (Jan. 18)... Hansen scored 13 points with 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal during the win over George Fox (Jan. 24)... 11 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 assists for Hansen during the Puget Sound win over Willamette (Jan. 25)... Hansen scored 17 points with 8 rebounds and 1 steal during the game vs. Whitworth (Jan. 31)... During the Puget Sound win over Wis.-Eau Claire Hansen scored 16 points with 3 rebounds (Feb. 1)... Hansen scored 14 points with 12 rebounds and 2 assists during the close game against Pacific Lutheran (Feb. 11)... 26 points and 12 rebounds for Hansen suring the game against Lewis & Clark (Feb. 14)... Hansen scored 15 points with 9 rebounds and 3 assists during the Logger win over Willamette (Feb. 21)... Hansen scored 11 points with 5 rebounds and 2 assists during the Logger win over George Fox (Feb. 22).
*Paul Johnson | SO | G |
Whitman
*Grant Hunt | FY | G |
*Xzavier Lino | FY | G |
*Walter Lum | JR | G |
Whitworth
Liam Fitzgerald | SR | F | 2019: Liam started 17 of the team's 29 games, including both NCAA Div. III tournament contests. He averaged 8.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and made 43% of his three-pointers.
Miguel Lopez | GR | F | 2019: Miguel was an honorable mention All-Great Plains Athletics Conference honoree after he led the Doane University Tigers (Neb.) in rebounding (7.7 rpg) and assists (63) while averaging 9.9 points per game.
Garrett Paxton | SR | G | 2019: Garrett played in 28 games and had one start. He averaged 5.8 points and made 43.5% of his three-pointers which was the second-highest percentage on the team.
Willamette
Jack Boydell | JR | F | 2019: Played in all 25 games in 2019-20, including eight starts... Averaged 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game... Scored 32 points at Pacific on Jan. 24. 2020 and produced 25 points at Pacific Lutheran on Feb. 15, 2020.
Daniel Plumer | JR | PG | 2019: Started all 25 games in 2019-20 and led the Bearcats with 15.7 points per game... Earned 63 steals (2.52 per game) to rank second on WU's all-time single season list and 14th in NCAA Division III... Also averaged 4.4 assists per game... Scored 30 points at Nebraska Wesleyan on Nov. 30, 2019 and put in 28 points versus Puget Sound on Jan. 25, 2020.
Jonathan Watts | SR | W | 2019: Played in just six games in 2019-20 due to an injury... Was a big contributor to the Bearcats as a first-year player... Saw action in 25 games with 20 starts, while averaging 28.9 minutes... Averaged 12.8 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per game, which both ranked second on the team... Also shot 54.4% from the field and 55.1% from 3-point range... Led the NWC in 3-point percentage... Hit 42 of 52 free throws for 80.8%.
(Points awarded on an 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches could not vote for their own teams; numbers in parentheses indicate first place votes)
| Team |
Pts. |
2019 NWC Finish |
| Linfield (5) |
61 |
1st |
| Whitworth (4) |
60 |
1st |
| Pacific Lutheran |
49 |
4th |
| Whitman |
40 |
3rd |
| Lewis & Clark |
30 |
5th |
| Pacific (Ore.) |
26 |
8th |
| Puget Sound |
26 |
6th |
| George Fox |
24 |
7th |
| Willamette |
8 |
9th |
For the complete 2021 NWC men’s basketball schedule, click
here.
*Newcomer to the NWC. Did not compete in 2019.