McMINNVILLE, Ore – Visiting Whitworth University continued its strong start to the Northwest Conference schedule with an 83-66 win over Linfield in Saturday's men's basketball game at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.

The Pirates (10-3 overall, 4-0 NWC), shot a season-high 50% from beyond the arc and took control with a 19-4 run late in the first half. The Wildcats (3-8, 1-2 NWC) suffered their first home loss of the season.

The first 15 minutes of action was a back-and-forth battle that held four ties and 11 lead changes. Neither team led by more than four as Linfield made six three-pointers during that stretch while Whitworth did much of its work in the paint and from the free-throw line.

Following a three-pointer from Dayton Magana that put the Wildcats up 29-27 at the 5:05 mark, the Whitworth offense exploded and never looked back. Caden Bateman's bucket tied the game and kicked off a 19-4 run over the final 4:40 of the half. The Bucs made eight of nine shot attempts during the run and shut down the Linfield offense thanks to three steals from Ben Nyquist. Bateman led the way with six points during the run and Kobe Parlin capped it off with a three-pointer before the buzzer to take a 46-33 lead into the locker room. Stephen Behil led a Pirate offense that shot 54.5% in the first half with 12 points and Parlin added nine.

Whitworth picked up where they left off and started the second half on a 9-0 run. Colton Looney nailed a step-back three and Bateman's jumper gave the Pirates their largest lead of the game 55-33 with 16:12 to play. The first Linfield points of the half came at the 14:34 mark and kicked off a 10-3 run that trimmed the deficit to 15 with 11 minutes to play. Whitworth answered and pushed the lead back out after a long-range shot from Dylan Westermeyer and layup from Nyquist. Magana scored seven straight Wildcat points to spark a comeback with the score at 65-50, but the Bucs again responded with a pair of layups from Nyquist and jumper from Behil to maintain their double-digit lead.

Whitworth shot 50.7% (34-67) from the field and shot 10-20 from three-point range. The Pirates dominated the paint battle (44-20) and scored 22 points off turnovers, while committing a season-low six turnovers themselves. Linfield shot 44.4% (24-54) and 37.5% (12-32) from beyond the arc.

Behil continued his standout senior season with a game-high 20-points on 8-17 shooting. Nyquist posted 16 points, five rebounds, two assists, and five steals. Bateman added eight points and helped the Bucs grab a 34-32 edge on the glass with a team-high nine rebounds.

Magana led Linfield with 16 points. Nalu Vargas scored 14 points and Garrett Callison added 11 points with eight rebounds.

Whitworth will look to extend its winning streak next weekend at George Fox and Lewis & Clark.