SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth University clinched its 23rd Northwest Conference regular season men's basketball championship with a hard-fought 93-86 win over visiting George Fox University on Saturday in the home finale at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The Pirates (19-4, 13-1 NWC) led by 12 points in the second half before the Bruins (4-19, 3-11) took a brief lead with less than ten minutes to play. Nevertheless, the Bucs held on to their three game lead over Puget Sound in the standings with two games left to play.
Whitworth was still enjoying the afterglow of a Senior Recognition ceremony that honored the ten players who make up the class of 2026, including all five regular starters. But it was four other seniors making their first starts of the season, along with Ty Edwards, and the Bruins jumped out to a 7-1 lead three and a half minutes into the game. The Pirates tied the game 14-14 on a Dylan Westermeyer three-pointer before the teams traded leads six times over the next six minutes. Tied again at 28-28, Whitworth outscored the Bruins 16-5 over the next four minutes to take a 44-33 lead, its largest of the first half. GFU was able to trim the deficit to 49-42 at halftime on a basket by Donovan Cooks with three seconds left. Cooks had 13 first half points for the visitors, while Stephen Behil had 11 for the Pirates.
A Cooks three-pointer got the Bruins within 52-47 early in the second before Whitworth appeared to take control, going up 59-47 with 15:57 to play. George Fox began to chip away, eventually tying the game 64-64 on Noah Marte's three-pointer. The Bruins appeared poised for the stunning upset when Jake Centner scored and had a chance at a three-point play with his team ahead 73-70 with 7:35 to go. Centner missed the free throw and Colton Looney answered with a three-pointer to tie the game. Then Caden Bateman scored four straight to put the Pirates back ahead 77-73. Whitworth would not trail again.
George Fox got as close as 81-78 with 2:26 to go after a pair of Cooks free throws. Bateman followed with a three-point play for the Bucs. Whitworth went 9 of 10 at the free throw line in the final two minutes to prevent the Bruins from pulling the game away.
The Pirates won their fifth NWC regular season title in Damion Jablonski's seven seasons.
Bateman finished with his sixth double-double of the year thanks to 26 points and 12 boards. Looney scored 25 points, including five three-pointers. Behil totaled 14 points. Edwards dished a game-high seven assists. Ben Nyquist added two steals and is now tied for Whitworth's single season record with 76.
Cooks scored a game-high 30 points for the Bruins, going 14 of 15 at the free throw line. Marte added 16 off the bench.
Whitworth will close out the regular season in Tacoma next weekend with games at Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound. The Bucs will host the 2026 NWC Tournament on February 27 and 28 in the Fieldhouse.
