Whitworth turns back Willamette 97-87 to win NWC Tournament, qualify for D-III Tournament

The Northwest Conference crown is back in familiar hands.

The Whitworth men’s basketball team, using last season’s early exit as fuel to bring them back, came up big at home in a 97-87 victory over Willamette on Saturday night to grab its fourth conference title in five years and secure an automatic berth into the NCAA DIII tournament.

“This team has been very convicted and playing together and playing for their faith,” Whitworth coach Damion Jablonski said. “I’m really proud of them to be able to accomplish this together.”

Fresh off a first-team all-Northwest Conference selection, senior Stephen Behil knocked down five threes on his way to a career-high 30 points.

Behil was one of two season-long starters from 2025’s squad which came up short in the semi-final in an upset loss and returned to the Pirates this year.

The Pirates knocked off Lewis and Clark on Friday night in the semifinals to earn a spot in the championship, which doubled as revenge for last year’s devastating loss.

“It’s surreal,” Behil said after cutting down the net. “Just coming back from last year and losing in the first round — we made a commitment … that this year we’re not going to feel that same feeling. That feeling just sucks.

“Getting back to the championship and being able to win it in front of a home crowd — it’s surreal. It’s awesome.”

Behil got the Pirates going with two three-pointers out of the gate to take a quick 8-2 lead.

But the Bearcats, led by Northwest Conference player of the year Tanner Overby were not intimidated by a noisy Whitworth Fieldhouse and were able to keep pace for most of the first half.

Overby, a sophomore guard, drew a lot of early attention and double teams from the Whitworth defense, allowing junior guard Davis Hester to get some open looks.

Hester was hot from behind the arc, knocking down seven of eight attempts, and led the Bearcats with 27 points.

Overby, who handily led the conference in scoring this season with nearly 25 points per game, began finding his groove midway through the first half, as the crafty lefty used pump fakes and fadeaways to find numerous ways to score.

“We really just had to throw a lot of bodies at him,” Jablonski said of the defensive gameplan against Overby. “Credit to Hester for stepping up and really having a big game off guard.”

Pivoting into the paint before nailing a floater over the defense, Overby briefly gave Willamette a two-point lead until a Ben Nyquist layup tied it at 26 a piece. It ended up being the Bearcats’ only lead of the night.

The Pirates stretched their lead late into the first half as junior guard Kobe Parlin’s scrappy defense began giving Overby fits. Parlin’s energy ignited the Whitworth bench.

Parlin said he took the matchup personally.

“He’s a matchup I’ve wanted since my first game back (from injury),” he said. “…I’ve really wanted to play against him because he’s a dog and he has a great mindset and love for the game. He really didn’t want to lose and you could see it the entire game.”

Off an Overby miss, Parlin dribbled up the floor and drilled a three-pointer as time expired to bring a 46-32 lead into halftime.

“He just really competed,” Jablonski said about Parlin. “He did obviously a great job defensively, but then along with that stretch where he really made some big plays at the end of the first half. He also passed the ball out of the ball screen really well.”

The Pirates came out of halftime with the same energy, capitalized by a Caden Bateman fastbreak dunk to extend the lead to 20.

Bateman was busy on both ends of the floor all game, picking up highlight-worthy blocks and dunks, all while stuffing the stat sheet with 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Whitworth led by double digits for much of the second half, but several desperate Willamette runs threatened to bring it closer.

Although the Pirates had an answer at every step of the way, including several big buckets from Behil.

“I just thought our ball movement was really good tonight,” Behil said. “They were pressuring us a little bit more and being in those gaps, and that allowed my teammates to create some open looks for myself and some of the other guys on the team. They found me and great thing I had my shooting going tonight.”

The Bearcats brought it within seven with a minute remaining, but their desperation threes could not bring it any closer.

Overby finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

The Pirates celebrated at half court when the final buzzer sounded.

“Those first two championships I was a part of, they were awesome,” Behil said. “But just to do it on my last final ride with all the guys I’ve been playing with and living with for the past four years. This one feels a little bit sweeter.”

The Pirates will learn their tournament draw on Monday morning.

“I think honestly all the pressure is off right now,” Jablonski said. “This is going to be so much fun for our guys to go compete against the best teams in the country and we believe that we’re one of them. We’re really excited about the opportunity.”