WALLA WALLA -- A dazzling second half by Tochi Oti and a maniacal effort on the defensive end of the floor were not enough to extend Whitman's conference playoff run.

Oti had 19 points after halftime and the Missionaries forced 18 turnovers, but the University of Puget Sound made plays down the stretch to extract a 71-66 victory in a Northwest Conference tournament semifinal Thursday at Sherwood Center.

The loss eliminated Whitman (16-10) from the conference tournament and means it will need an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III tourney if its season is to continue.

UPS (15-11) avenged a pair of regular-season losses to the Missionaries and advanced to face Whitworth in the conference championship game on Saturday in Spokane.

Whitman trailed the entire first half, but rallied just before halftime as Josh Duckworth splashed a pair of 3-pointers inside the final 2:46. His second, buried with three seconds left, whittled the Missionaries' deficit to 29-28.

Whitman earned their first tie since it was 0-0 when Oti drained a pull-up jumper with 13:24 left in the game, at which point the contest bogged down into impossibly tense, possession-by-possession warfare.

Oti's make forged the first of seven ties over the next 10 minutes, a span that also saw eight lead changes. His floating, change-of-hands layin a tick inside the 13-minute mark put Whitman ahead for the first time all night.

The lead changed hands six more times, with Whitman's last advantage delivered on Clay Callahan's driving layin through the heart of the Logger defense with 6:18 to play. But Erin Barber (13 points) tied it for UPS on a jump shot.

Oti went on a personal 7-2 run spanning just over a minute to pull Whitman even one final time, converting a three-point play with 3:13 left to knot it at 65-all.

But that was the Missionaries' last basket of the game. A.J. Maw put UPS ahead for a good with a bucket inside, and Whitman split a pair of free throws when two would have tied it.

The Loggers went 4 for 4 at the charity stripe over the last 17 seconds to hold on.

Whitman fought to the bitter end despite a rough go from outside the 3-point arc (where it made just 5 of 28), and foul trouble for Oti (two minutes played in the first half) and others.

Ben Eisenhardt had 11 points and six rebounds, and Callahan and Dominic Lippi added seven points apiece. Oti had four steals and Lippi three for Whitman, which out-rebounded UPS 39-37.