Whitworth improved to 10-5 overall and 3-3 in the NWC, avoiding the first three-game home losing streak in head coach Jim Hayford's time at Whitworth. The Pirates dropped a heartbreaking overtime loss to Pacific on Friday.
Linfield (9-5, 4-1) dropped a half a game out of first place after Puget Sound's (13-2, 5-1) 111-107 win at Lewis & Clark (10-5, 3-3).
Depew, the 2003 NWC MVP, made 14 of 26 shots and four of five free throws. He added eight rebounds. Jon Young came off of the bench to score 14 points on four of five shooting from three-point range. John Gebbers finished with 12 points and Scott Bierlink led the Bucs with 10 rebounds before fouling out in the second half.
Whitworth's Byron Borton, a 6-6 reserve post, played a career high 31 minutes and contributed a career high nine rebounds and tough defense against Linfield's 6-8 Sam Kreiger and 6-11 Nick Fusare.
Point guard Joe Neill led Linfield with 11 points and T.J. Middlesworth came off of the bench to score 10 points. Kreiger led the Wildcats with seven rebounds.
Whitworth outshot Linfield 47% to 39% and outrebounded the bigger Wildcats 41-26. Linfield also had 19 turnovers to Whitworth's 10.
The Pirates used a 12-0 midway through the first half to turn a 14-11 lead into a 26-11 advantage and Whitworth's lead was never under double digits the rest of the way. Whitworth's biggest lead was 74-47 just before the end of regulation.
Whitworth has now won four consecutive games against Linfield. The Pirates will host Whitman College on Tuesday, while the Wildcats host archrival Willamette on the same night.
WHITWORTH 74, LINFIELD 50 LINFIELD (9-5, 4-1 NWC) Neill, Joe 3-7 2-2 11; Middlesworth, T.J. 3-6 3-5 10; Gulley, O.J. 2-5 3-4 8; Kreiger, Sam 4-5 0-3 8; Shelton, Blake 2-7 0-0 5; McConn, Pat 1-4 0-0 3; Kushiyama, Casey 1-1 0-0 2; Wells, Joe 1-1 0-0 2; Fusare, Nick 0-1 1-2 1; Lewis, Chris 0-2 0-2 0; Broussard, John 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 17-43 9-18 50. WHITWORTH (10-5, 3-3 NWC) Depew, Bryan 14-26 4-5 33; Young, Jon 4-5 3-4 14; Gebbers, John 4-12 3-4 12; Williams, Bryan 4-10 1-2 9; Bierlink, Scott 2-5 0-0 4; Larkin, Mike 1-2 0-0 2; Borton, Byron 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 11-15 74. Linfield...................... 27 23 - 50 Whitworth..................... 37 37 - 74 3-point goals-Linfield 7-24 (Neill, Joe 3-6; McConn, Pat 1-4; Middlesworth, T.J. 1-2; Shelton, Blake 1-4; Gulley, O.J. 1-3; Lewis, Chris 0-2; Broussard, John 0-3), Whitworth 5-14 (Young, Jon 3-4; Gebbers, John 1-2; Depew, Bryan 1-5; Bierlink, Scott 0-2; Williams, Bryan 0-1). Fouled out--Linfield-None, Whitworth-Bierlink, Scott. Rebounds-Linfield 26 (Kreiger, Sam 7), Whitworth 41 (Bierlink, Scott 10). Assists-Linfield 12 (Kushiyama, Casey 3; Neill, Joe 3), Whitworth 13 (Williams, Bryan 6). Total fouls-Linfield 17, Whitworth 15. A-1038