SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University men's basketball will conclude its trip to California with a game at Chapman University on Thursday evening (5:00 pm).
Check the Whitworth men's basketball schedule for live links to this week's games.
The Pirates: Whitworth (5-3) has dropped its first two games in California this week.
The Pirates led by 15 points at halftime and by 17 early in the second half before Pomona-Pitzer rallied to a 95-90 win in overtime on Monday night. The Pirates took advantage of second possessions to grab a 46-31 lead at the break. But the Sagehens made 65% (22-34) of their shots after halftime, including 40% (6-15) from three-point range. Stephen Behil scored 26 points and had three steals for the Bucs, while Colton Looney added 19 points and six assists. Caden Bateman totaled 10 points and seven rebounds.
On Tuesday Whitworth gave itself a chance to upset unbeaten and 18th-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with hot starts to each half. But the Pirates could not overcome 25 turnovers and 25 personal fouls in a 73-62 loss to the Stags. Whitworth trailed by 10 midway through the second half before rallying to within two points five minutes later. CMS held off the comeback by hitting free throws down the stretch. Behil scored 21, 18 in the second half, with nine rebounds while Looney added 20 points. Ben Nyquist totaled 13 points, four rebounds and five assists.
Iron Man: Whitworth senior post Ty Edwards has started 83 consecutive games for the Pirates. It is the longest active starting streak since Whitworth Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame member George Valle started all 116 games of his career from 2013 through 2016.
Watch on FloCollege: Like the rest of the Northwest Conference, Whitworth's home athletic events will be steamed through FloCollege in 2025-26. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $116 for an annual subscription or $20 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
Inland Northwest Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Bud Nameck, familiar in Spokane as the KXLY channel 4 sports director for over 20 years and the longtime host of the KXLY 920am Morning News, is in his 11th season as the voice of the Pirates in 2025. He was the voice of Washington State University men's basketball for 22 years and spent that same amount of time on the Cougar football broadcasts – the final three on play by play. He is a longtime resident of the Inland Northwest who began his career as the Sports Information Director and radio voice of Gonzaga University basketball and baseball in the 1980s.
The Opponents: Chapman is 5-2 this season following an 81-73 win over UC Santa Cruz on Monday night. The Panthers are 2-0 in the SCIAC, including a win over Pomona-Pitzer and a 75-63 win over then 9th-ranked Redlands. Former Chapman player Dan Krikorian is in his second season as head coach after leading the team to a 14-11 mark in 2024-25. Senior guard Jake Heberle averages 19.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Senior point guard Cruz Billings scores 15.0 points and dishes 5.0 assists per game. Whitworth has won its last six matchups with Chapman, but the teams haven't played each other since Dec. 19, 2016 when the Pirates won 78-69 on the road.
Pirates picked to win: Whitworth is listed at the top of the 2025-26 Northwest Conference coaches poll with eight first place votes and 64 points. The Pirates are coming off a 22-4 record in 2024-25 and a Northwest Conference title with a 13-3 mark. Whitman got one first place vote and has 53 points for second in the poll. PLU and Puget Sound (44 points apiece) tied for third.
Two Decades of Dominance: Since the beginning of the 2005-06 season (over 19 seasons) the Pirates are 453-106 (.810), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 233 of its last 265 (.879).
Home-Sweet-Home: Whitworth has been stellar in the Whitworth Fieldhouse since the 1990's. During the decade of the 1990s and 2000's Whitworth won more than 84% of its home games. However, since the beginning of the 2005-06 season, the Bucs are 229-30 (.884) at home.
The Pirates have had two home-court winning streaks of more than 40 games since 1990. A 41-game home court winning streak from early 2009 until December of 2011 was the second-longest in Pirate history. The school record for consecutive home victories is 43, beginning during the 1994-95 season and ending during the 1997-98 season.
Road Warriors: As good as Whitworth is at home, the Pirates have been almost as good away from the Whitworth Fieldhouse over the last 14 seasons. Since the start of the 11-12 season, Whitworth is 133-44 (.751) away from home, 104-30 (.776) in true road games.
Coming Up Next: Whitworth will open Northwest Conference play at home on January 2nd and 3rd against Willamette and Pacific (Ore.).
