TACOMA, Wash. – A potential preview of next week's Northwest Conference men's basketball tournament championship game came down to the wire in the NWC regular season finale for visiting Whitworth and Puget Sound on Saturday night as the host Loggers pulled out a 69-67 victory.
The 23rd-ranked Pirates fell to 20-5 overall and finish the NWC regular season 14-2. Puget Sound improves to 17-8, 12-4 and enters next week's tournament as it's #2 seed.
Whitworth had two chances to potentially tie the game in the last second. Kobe Parlin's pull up jumper was well defended and off the mark. Caden Bateman grabbed the offensive rebound and got off a desperation put-back attempt as time expired that did not fall.
The league's two best defensive teams played like it. Both squads were held below their season shooting averages as the Loggers got their first win over Whitworth since Dec. 2, 2022.
Bateman and Stephen Behil both posted double-doubles for the Pirates. Behil scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Bateman grabbed 21 rebounds, the most of any Whitworth player in at least 30 years, and added 15 points and four blocked shots.
The first half featured seven lead changes. The Pirates took their final lead of the half at 26-25 when Behil drained a three-pointer with 2:33 to go. Whitworth did not score again in the half, allowing the Loggers to close on a 7-0 run to lead 32-26 at the break. Trevon Hamilton scored the final four points for Puget Sound. The Pirates only made 8 of 29 (28%) in the first half.
Trailing 41-38 six minutes into the second half, Whitworth went on an 11-4 run to take the lead. Parlin scored seven of those points. Puget Sound responded with a 15-4 run of its own to open a 60-53 advantage with just under six minutes left.
The Pirates still weren't done, getting within 64-63 on a Ben Nyquist three-pointer with 41 seconds to go. The teams traded free throws until Hamilton made only one of two with eight seconds left. Parlin took the inbounds and drove up the court, leading to the final sequence.
Parlin finished with 13 points. Nyquist had nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. He increased his school record season steal total to 84. Whitworth finished the game 22 of 62 (35.5%) and only 6 of 23 (26.1%) from three-point range. The Bucs stayed in the game by making 17 of 19 free throws (89.5%).
Ty Edwards made his 100th consecutive start for Whitworth.
Hamilton came off the bench for a game-high 26 points to lead Puget Sound. He also had five steals and three assists. Zane Miller added 13 for the Loggers, who made 26 of 69 (37.7%) of their shots. They were 8 of 30 (26.7%) from beyond the arc.
As 2025-26 regular season champions, Whitworth earns the right to host the conference tournament next Friday and Saturday. The semifinals will feature second-seeded Puget Sound and third-seeded Willamette playing the opener, with Whitworth hosting fourth-seeded Lewis & Clark in the second game. The winners will play Saturday's championship game to determine the NWC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
