SPOKANE, Wash. – JoJo Anderson scored 16 points to lead four Pirates in double figures, and Whitworth overcame a pesky Linfield team 73-66 in the Fieldhouse on Friday night.

Whitworth (15-7, 11-2 NWC) only trailed for 1:38 but had a hard time shaking Linfield (7-15, 2-11 NWC) who threatened to pull the upset all night long.

"They're a gritty team and you have to match it," said coach Damion Jablonski. "They make you grind out long possessions on the offensive end and there aren't a ton of possessions to go around anyway because of the pace they play."

Garrett Long scored 13 points including a crucial 11 points in the last 10 minutes, Jerry Twenge and Jake Holtz each added 10 on a night where Whitworth was outshot. The Pirates finished 49% from the field (25-51) and finished 8-23 from deep (hitting just one in the second half).

Whitworth was all about the three early, knocking down five on 10 attempts in the first eight minutes. Anderson was 3-3 in that stretch drilling a trio of threes in a two-minute span to give the Pirates a 13-8 lead.

The rest of the half came in runs. Sullivan Menard and Colton Looney hit triples before Long capped an 8-0 run with a layup. Linfield responded with a 9-0 run thanks to five straight points from Nick Tripaldi, Whitworth was held scoreless for 4:20 during that run.

Twenge broke the cold spell with a crafty three-point play in the lane before Anderson sank his fourth three of the half helping Whitworth to a 34-28 halftime lead.

Whitworth was 7-16 from three in the first half and 5-10 on shots inside the arc.

With the Pirates struggling to find rhythm in the second half, Linfield stuck around. With 13:57 left Tripaldi buried a deep three before Cade Collins knocked down another contested triple in the corner to cut Whitworth's lead to 44-42. Long scored five straight points to fuel a 9-2 run, but Linfield trimmed the deficit back to 57-55 after a flurry of empty Pirate possessions.

On a night full of ups-and-downs, the Pirates delivered the knockout blow on a pair of buckets from Long and a slick finger roll finish from Twenge that led to a three-point play, giving Whitworth a 64-55 lead with under three minutes to play.

The Pirates have not lost a conference game at home this season, and they wrap up their home regular season schedule with George Fox on Saturday.