(Updated Feb. 17th)

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth shot 66.7% from the field in the second half to defeat visiting Willamette 81-66 in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game on Friday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse, and clinch at least a share of the 2007 NWC title.

Young scored 19 points and added 7 rebounds

The Pirates (22-3 overall, 13-3 NWC) will await the outcome of Saturday night's Lewis & Clark - George Fox contest to know whether the conference championship will be shared with L&C, or owned outright by Whitworth. However, based on NWC tiebreakers Whitworth appears to have secured the top seed for the conference tournament.

Willamette (10-14, 6-9) opened the first half with the clear intent of playing spoiler at the Fieldhouse. The Bearcats took an 8-1 lead on a three pointer by Michael Smith almost three minutes into the game. But Whitworth answered with a 12-0 run of its own, including five points each by Bryan Williams and James Jones. From there the teams traded leads nine more times until the Pirates went to the locker room with a 34-33 lead.

And then came the second half, when Whitworth made 18 of its 27 shots for a 66.7 shooting percentage and pulled away from the Bearcats. The Pirates opened the half with a 14-2 run to take a 48-35 lead six minutes into the period. Willamette would never get within double-digits the rest of the game. The Pirates twice took leads of 19 points, the second coming on a three point play by Colin Willemsen with 4:39 left for a 70-51 edge.

Jon Young led five Pirates who finished in double figures in scoring with 19 points. Jones scored 13 and Willemsen added 12 off of the bench. Williams had 10 points and dished eight assists, while Ryan Symes added 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Senior post Ian Mansfield led Willamette with 13 points, but he scored only two of those points after halftime. Rob Andrus came off of the bench to add 12 points and Kyler McClary and Smith each scored 10 points. Tain Cantrell grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Whitworth, which has claimed the last eight meetings with the Bearcats, appears to have wrapped up the top seed for the NWC tournament based on NWC tiebreakers. Therefore, the Pirates will host the winner of next Wednesday's semifinal between UPS and L&C on Friday, Feb. 23rd.

Willamette will conclude its season on Saturday night at Whitman.