SPOKANE, Wash. -- Kevin Hasenfus posted 17 points and 15 rebounds, and 10th-ranked Whitworth needed all of it to hold of Whitman 62-59 in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game on Tuesday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Hasenfus posted his third double-double of 06-07

Kyle Born, the NWC's leading scorer and rebounder, had a chance to tie the game as time expired, but his three point attempt was off and just after the buzzer, giving the host Pirates (15-1 overall, 6-1 NWC) their 15th straight win over the Missionaries (5-11, 1-6). This was as hard as Whitworth had to work in any of the last 15.

Whitman used an early 9-0 run to turn an 11-8 deficit into a 17-11 lead. Born scored twice during the run. After the Pirates came back to take a 19-17 lead on a basket in the pain by Colin Willemsen, the Missionaries went on a 10-2 run and led 27-21 after a lay up by Garth Brandal. Whitman eventually led 29-26 at halftime.

The Missionaries held Whitworth, the best shooting team in NCAA Division III coming in (54.8%) to 35.7% in the first half. They also forced 10 first half turnovers by the Pirates.

Whitworth opened the second half with a 9-2 run to take a 35-31 lead. Ryan Symes scored six of the points, and the Pirates never trailed again. However, Whitman did tie the game 41-41 after a pair of free throws by Born with 9:33 to go. Whitworth scored the next eight, four each by Symes and Hasenfus, to open its biggest lead of the night with 6:40 to play.

But the Bucs could not shake the Missionaries. Chris Faidley sandwiched a pair of three pointers between a pair of Pirate turnovers to get Whitman within 60-59 with 28 seconds left. Jon Young calmly sank a pair of free throws with 17 seconds to go to give Whitworth its final advantage. Whitman tried to work Faidley for a final three, but could not get the ball in his hands. Born had the ball last and couldn't get a the clean shot he needed.

In addition to the double-double by the 6-7 Hasenfus (his third of the year), Whitworth got 19 points from Symes and 16 from Young. Bryan Williams, who leads NCAA Division III in assists, dished 12 of fhose. The Pirates improved to 56% shooting in the second half and outrebounded Whitman 39-29 in the game.

Born posted his own double-double of 15 points and 12 boards. Faidley also finished with 15 points and Ian Warner added 11 points and four assists.

Coming up: Whitworth will hit the road to Salem, Oregon for an NWC contest at Willamette University on Friday night. Whitman will play at Willamette on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 8:00 pm.

Willamette enters the weekend with an overall record of 6-9 and a Northwest Conference mark of 2-4. Whitworth swept three meetings with the Bearcats last season. The Pirates won 80-58 in Spokane and 76-61 in Salem. Whitworth then won 69-66 at home in the first round of the NWC playoffs.