From staff reports

Whitworth breezed past Puget Sound and secured its spot in the Northwest Conference Tournament championship game.

The Pirates, the NWC regular-season champs, cruised to an 80-59 victory Friday evening in the semifinal round at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Whitworth (18-8) will meet Whitman (20-6) in the title game Saturday. The Pirates swept the season series, beating Whitman 76-69 on Jan. 2 in Spokane and 92-74 on Jan. 30 in Walla Walla.

The Pirates used a 10-0 run in the first half to take a double-digit lead .

The Loggers (13-13) trimmed their deficit to six with 17:22 left in the game, but Whitworth responded with a 7-0 spurt to retake a comfortable lead., which it preserved for the rest of the game.

Whitworth shot 57.7% from the field and went 7 of 13 from 3-point range. Guard Jake Holtz led all scorers with 24 points (11-of-16 shooting from the floor) and added seven rebounds.

Whitworth guard Sullivan Menard added 19 points and six boards.

Puget Sound shot 40.6% from the floor and 4 of 20 on 3-pointers.