Willamette University

Men's Basketball | Monday, January 20, 2003

Men's Basketball News Release

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Bearcats (10-3, 4-1 NWC) to take on three conference foes

THIS WEEK: Willamette hosts third-place Pacific on Tuesday
Jan. 21 Pacific (7-7, 4-2 NWC), 6 p.m.
Jan. 24 George Fox (6-8, 1-5 NWC), 6 p.m. (* Poster Day)
Jan. 25 at Pacific Lutheran (5-10, 2-4 NWC), 6 p.m.

* At the conclusion of the George Fox game, members of the Bearcat basketball team will sign Willamette Winter Sports Posters for kids of all ages.

LAST WEEK: Willamette rolls past Whitman, falls at No. 17 Whitworth
Jan. 17 Willamette 81, at Whitman 61
Willamette pulled away from host Whitman in the second half on Friday to win at the Sherwood Center. The victory was the Bearcats' fifth in a row. The potent Willamette offensive attack was too much for Whitman as the Bearcats shot 52.6 percent from the field. WU also converted 11 of 20 three-point shots. The Missionaries remained close in the first half, tying the game at 26-26 before falling behind 37-30 at halftime. Willamette came out hot early in the second frame behind the shooting of Harold Sublett Jr. (So., Hayden HS, Phoenix, Ariz.). He hit four jumpers and two free throws in helping the Bearcats extend the lead to 56-38 with 15 minutes to play. The Bearcats were led by Miles Sandgathe (Jr., Pleasant Hill HS), who ended up with a game-high 18 points and three steals. Ryan Hepp (Sr., Century HS) added 16 points and a game-high 10 assists.

Jan. 18 at Whitworth 66, Willamette 57
No. 17 (D3hoops.com) Whitworth pulled away in the final 10 minutes of the game to win 66-57 and trade places with Willamette in the Northwest Conference standings. The Pirates entered the game second in the NWC, but took over first place with the win. WU fell from first to second in the standings. Willamette trailed by only four points (56-52) after Marques Johnson (Sr., Grant HS) canned two free throws with 3:53 remaining in the game, but Whitworth stretched the lead to eight points after Paul Hafford and Bryan Depew both converted a pair of free throws. The Bearcats had a five-game winning streak snapped. Willamette held Whitworth to only 41.1 percent shooting from the field and had a slight edge in rebounding (35-33), but the Bearcats had 11 turnovers while the Pirates had six. Willamette got an outstanding performance from Johnson, who rolled up 25 points and eight rebounds. He converted 10 of 16 shots from the field. Miles Sandgathe (Jr., Pleasant Hill HS) added 11 points. Willamette shot 47.9 percent from the field for the game, but converted only 9 of 17 free throws, including the front end of four one-and-ones in the second half.

THE RACE TO 1,000: Point guard Ryan Hepp (Sr., Century HS) and post Marques Johnson (Sr., Grant HS) are each closing in on the 1,000-point plateau for a career. Heading into Tuesday’s game against Pacific, Hepp has 916 points in his career and Johnson has 866.


NOTES: The Bearcats are 5-0 at home this season and have won all 10 periods in those games. Willamette leads the NWC in scoring defense (63.1 ppg), field goal percentage (51.4%) and three-point field goal percentage (42.2%). The Bearcats are No. 2 in scoring margin (+10.2), turnover margin (+2.08) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.05:1). Individually, Marques Johnson (Sr., Grant HS) ranks fourth in the NWC in scoring (16.8 ppg), first in field goal percentage (59.6%) and seventh in rebounding (6.4 rpg). Ryan Hepp (Sr., Century HS) ranks sixth in scoring (15.4 ppg), first in assists (4.69 apg), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.74:1), tied for fifth in free throw percentage (78.9%), fifth in field goal percentage (55.6%) and sixth in steals (1.46 spg). Miles Sandgathe (Jr., Pleasant Hill HS) is eighth in scoring (14.8 ppg), second in free throw percentage (86.0%) and three-point field goal percentage (53.8%), sixth in field goal percentage (55.5%) and 10th in steals (1.38 spg).


PREVIOUS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Post Marques Johnson (Sr., Grant HS) has been named to the all-tournament team in each of the three tournaments Willamette has played in. He also was named MVP of the Bud Presley Classic and Co-MVP of the John Lewis Holiday Classic. Point guard Ryan Hepp (Jr., Century HS) was the other Co-MVP of the John Lewis Holiday Classic and was named to the all-tourney team of the Bud Presley Classic. Wing Miles Sandgathe (Jr., Pleasant Hill HS) was also named to the Bud Presley all-tournament team.


NORTHWEST CONFERENCE MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS
W L
Whitworth (14-1) 5 1
WILLAMETTE (10-3) 4 1
Pacific (7-7) 4 2
Lewis & Clark (8-7) 3 3
Puget Sound (8-7) 3 3
Linfield (9-5) 2 3
Pacific Lutheran (5-10) 2 4
Whitman (5-10) 2 4
George Fox (6-8) 1 5


2002-03 WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY MEN’S BASKETBALL ROSTER

NO PLAYER POS HT WT YR/EL HOMETOWN (HIGH SCHOOL)
12 Ryan Hepp* PG 5-11 175 Sr./Sr. Hillsboro, Ore. (Century)
14 Drew Miller PG/W 6-1 170 Fr./Fr. Keizer, Ore. (McNary)
20 B.J. Dobrkovsky W 6-3 195 Sr./Sr. Lebanon, Ore. (Lebanon)
23 Henry Greeley W 6-3 185 Fr./Fr. Seattle, Wash. (Lakeside)
24 Harold Sublett Jr.* PG/W 6-1 190 Jr./So. Phoenix, Ariz. (Hayden)
30 Michael Plank PG 6-0 160 Fr./Fr. Stockton, Calif. (Franklin)
32 P.J. McDevitt W 6-4 165 Jr./Jr. Sacramento, Calif. (Jesuit)
34 David Force W 6-3 195 Jr./Jr. Lake Oswego, Ore. (Lakeridge)
40 Marques Johnson* P 6-5 205 Sr./Sr. Portland, Ore. (Grant)
42 Brennan Garrelts* P 6-7 205 Fr./Fr. Roseburg, Ore. (Roseburg)
44 Miles Sandgathe* W 6-5 210 Jr./Jr. Springfield, Ore. (Pleasant Hill)
50 Ryan Rahlfs P 6-5 215 Jr./Jr. Bellevue, Wash. (E. Catholic)
52 Jacob Baran P 6-5 230 Fr./Fr. Beaverton, Ore. (Beaverton)
55 Joe Carmichael P 6-7 220 Gr./Sr. Eugene, Ore. (Sheldon)

* Probable starters

HEAD COACH: Gordie James (16th year)
ASSISTANTS: Wally Wing (16th year), Nelson Lomax (4th year),
Kip Ioane (2nd year), Shawn Gahr (1st year)


THE BEARCATS UNDER COACH GORDIE JAMES:
OVERALL NWC PLACE
1987-88 18-10 10-0 1st
1988-89 15-12 9-3 1st
1989-90 25-6 10-2 1st (tie)
1990-91 19-10 8-4 3rd
1991-92 17-13 8-4 2nd
1992-93 29-4 11-1 1st (NAIA Division II National Champions)
1993-94 24-6 10-2 1st (tie)
1994-95 20-12 8-4 1st (tie)
1995-96 11-13 5-9 7th
1996-97 10-14 8-8 5th
1997-98 14-10 10-8 5th
1998-99 15-10 11-7 3rd (tie)
1999-00 15-10 9-7 4th
2000-01 10-14 7-9 5th
2001-02 18-8 12-4 2nd
2002-03 10-3 4-1
TOTALS #270-155 140-73

# The all-time school record for wins by a Willamette head coach is 277 by the late John Lewis. From 1947-67 (20 seasons), Lewis’ teams went 277-239 and won or shared seven conference titles. Lewis also coached baseball at WU and served as athletic director.


2002-03 WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

NOVEMBER
22-23 Bud Pressley Classic Atherton, Calif.
22 Menlo vs. Willamette W, 86-83
22 Fresno Pacific vs. CSU-Hayward
23 Third-place game
23 WU vs. Fresno Pacific (Champ.) W, 66-58

DECEMBER
6-7 John Lewis Holiday Classic Salem
6 Southern Oregon vs. Linfield
6 Western Baptist vs. Willamette W, 80-73
7 Western Baptist vs. Linfield
7 Southern Oregon vs. Willamette W, 87-66
13 Warner Pacific Salem W, 72-60
14 Western Oregon Monmouth L, 61-57
28-29 Pioneer Classic Hayward, Calif.
28 Wisconsin-Whitewater vs. WU L, 60-55
28 Pacific Lutheran vs. CSU-Hayward
29 Wis.-Whitewater vs. P. Lutheran
29 WU vs. CSU-Hayward W, 86-58

JANUARY
4 Pacific Lutheran* Salem W, 62-37
7 Lewis & Clark* (KBZY 1490) Portland W, 77-70 (OT)
10 Linfield* Salem W, 87-67
17 Whitman* (KBZY 1490) Walla Walla, Wash. W, 81-61
18 Whitworth* (KBZY 1490) Spokane, Wash. L, 66-57
21 Pacific* Salem 8:00
24 George Fox* (KBZY 1490) Salem 8:00
25 Pacific Lutheran* Tacoma, Wash. 8:00
31 Puget Sound* Tacoma, Wash. 8:00

FEBRUARY
7 Linfield* (KBZY 1490) McMinnville 8:00
8 Lewis & Clark* Salem 8:00
14 Whitman* Salem 8:00
15 Whitworth* (KBZY 1490) Salem 8:00
18 Pacific* Forest Grove 8:00
21 George Fox* (KBZY 1490) Newberg 8:00
22 Puget Sound* Salem 8:00
27 NWC playoffs (No. 3 at No. 2) TBA TBA

MARCH
1 NWC Champ. (Winner at No. 1) TBA TBA

* Northwest Conference game


TICKETS: Ticket prices for all Willamette regular season home games are:
$5 General Admission
$3 Students and seniors
Free Children 12 and under
To purchase tickets in advance, call (503) 370-6011.


WILLAMETTE ON THE RADIO: Selected Willamette University basketball games will be broadcast live on Salem radio station KBZY (1490 AM). The broadcasts begin at the conclusion of each women’s game. Mike Allegre will provide the play-by-play.


HOW TO CONTACT HEAD COACH GORDIE JAMES:
(503) 370-6063 Willamette University
(503) 949-9830 Cell
gjames@willamette.edu


MORE INFORMATION ON THE WEB:
/www.willamette.edu/athletics/mbasketball
http://www.nwcsports.com
http://www.ncaa.org
http://www.d3hoops.com