SPOKANE, Wash. – Stephen Behil scored a career-high 30 points to lead top-seeded Whitworth to a 97-87 win over third-seeded Willamette in the championship game of the 2026 Northwest Conference men's basketball tournament on Saturday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The Pirates improve to 22-5 and earn the NWC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. It is Whitworth's 17th NWC tournament title.
The visiting Bearcats, who were playing in their first NWC tournament final since 2000, finish 16-11. They will return much of their roster, including the entire starting lineup, in 2026-27.
The All-NWC players for each team showed up in a big way in this game. Behil, a first team selection, surpassed his previous career-high of 27 points set during his freshman year. Willamette's Tanner Overby, the 2026 NWC Player of the Year, finished with 26 points. The game's wildcard was Bearcat guard Davis Hester, who made 7 of 8 three-point attempts and scored 27 points.
Whitworth had trouble shaking Willamette in the opening half, despite jumping out to a quick 8-2 lead after consecutive three-pointers by Behil to start the game. The Pirates still led 22-17 after Caden Bateman's dunk, but the Bearcats used a 9-2 run to take their only lead when Overby's jumper made it 26-24 in the visitors' favor. The game was tied 28-28 with 5:43 left in the half when Whitworth closed on a decisive 18-4 run. Behil scored 13 of those points and Kobe Parlin drained a long three just before the buzzer to give the Bucs a 46-32 lead at the break. Behil had 21 of his points at halftime.
Bateman's dunk completed a quick 6-0 Whitworth run to start the second half, giving the Pirates the first of two 20-point leads at 52-32. It appeared Whitworth was putting the game away, but Willamette wasn't done. They made 9 of their first 14 shots to start the second half, including 5 of 7 three-pointers, to get within 71-63. The Bearcats had a chance to cut the margin further, but the Pirates made a defensive stop and Parlin converted a three-point play at the other end to stretch the lead back to 11 points. Whitworth did not lead by less than double-double digits until less than two minutes left.
A shaky 30 second stretch that included a turnover, allowed Willamette to trim the deficit to 91-84 on Hester's final three-pointer with 1:07 left. The Pirates were steady enough to finish 6 of 6 at the free throw line in the final minute to secure the win.
Caden Bateman, a second team All-NWC honoree for Whitworth, scored 15 second half points on the way to 23 in the game and led the Bucs with nine rebounds. Ben Nyquist, the NWC's Defensive Player of the Year and a second team selection, added 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Parlin finished with 10 points off the bench. Whitworth made 33 of 59 (56%) from the floor and 24 of 29 (83%) from the free throw line.
Willamette ended the game 31 of 69 (45%) from the field and 13 of 16 (81%) from the charity stripe. Anujan Tennathur was the third Bearcat in double figures with 15 points.
The Pirates will find out where and when they will play in the NCAA Division III tournament when the field is announced on Monday morning at 10:00 am on NCAA.com.
