SALEM, Ore. – The Whitworth Pirates outscored the Willamette Bearcats 49-29 in the second half to earn an 81-63 victory on Saturday night in a Northwest Conference men's basketball matchup.
The Pirates extended their winning streak to seven and advanced to 10-2 in the NWC (19-2 overall). The Bearcats fell to 8-12 and 2-10 in the NWC.
Willamette led 34-32 after a hotly contested first half. Whitworth built an early lead after making three of their first four shots and a pair of free throws from Ty Edwards gave the Pirates a six-point lead at the 11:23 mark, their largest of the half. Soon after, the Bucs hit a cold stretch that allowed Willamette to take its first lead of the game 23-22 after a layup from Anujan Tennathur with 7:16 to play in the half. The remainder of the period held four ties and three lead changes before the Bearcats jumped ahead with two free throws from Tennathur heading into the break. Whitworth shot 40% (12-30) from the field in the first half compared to Willamette's 44% (11-25). The Pirates turned the ball over eight times.
A three-pointer from Colton Looney capped a 15-4 Whitworth run to start the second half. Stephen Behil knocked down two long distance jumpers and Ben Nyquist scored twice during that run to give the Pirates a 47-38 lead. Nyquist then hit the first of three consecutive triples for the Pirates and their lead ballooned to 18 after a fastbreak layup from Holtz. The Pirates reached their largest lead of the game 74-53 after a layup from Colton Looney with 5:30 left to play. Josiah Frank brought the Bearcats within 16 after a pair of free throws, but they would not get any closer. The Bucs shot 58.82% from the field in the second half and held Willamette to just 27.59%.
Whitworth had a 38-26 advantage on the glass and turned defense into offense with 18 fast break points. Willamette made 19 of 54 (35.2%) field goal attempts and the Pirates hit 32 of 64 (50%).
Whitworth knocked down eight three-pointers in the game, seven of which came in the second half. Five of those shots came from Behil, who led the Pirates in points (23, season-high), rebounds (11) and assists (6). Nyquist also scored his season-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and four steals. Holtz and Looney were each in double figures with 11.
Josiah Frank led Willamette with 20 points and Tennathur was the only other Bearcat in double figures with 13. Kahiau Bruhn grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds off the bench.
The Pirates, now with a three-game lead in the NWC standings, will return to Spokane to host Pacific on February 14th and George Fox on February 15th.
