SPOKANE, Wash. – Kenny Love scored 23 points to lead 3^rd-ranked Whitworth to a 75-62 win over visiting Pacific Lutheran in the championship game of the 2016 Northwest Conference men's basketball tournament on Saturday night.

The Pirates (26-1) claimed their tenth consecutive NWC tournament title and will make their tenth straight appearance in the upcoming NCAA Division III tournament, and 11^th overall.  The Lutes fell to 17-10.

Love led four Whitworth players who finished in double figures.  That helped offset PLU's Bryce Miller, who finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lutes led for much of the first half.  After Brandon Lester drained a three-pointer to give PLU an early 5-3 lead, Jared Christy followed with a three-point play.  By the time Miller converted his own three-point play four minutes into the game, the Lutes had jumped to an early 13-5 lead, much like they had in Thursday night's upset at 9^th-ranked Whitman.

But Whitworth did not let PLU run away early.  Matt Staudacher's three-pointer pulled the Pirates to within 14-12 and the Bucs retook the lead 20-18 on Love's three.  The teams would trade leads, and big shots, over the next six minutes until Love turned a steal into a breakaway dunk to put Whitworth ahead 31-30.  Kyle Roach followed with a layup for the Pirates and Whitworth would not trail again.  Leading 38-36, Whitworth closed the half on a 6-0 run to take a 44-36 lead into halftime.

Love opened the second half with a three-pointer for Whitworth, but PLU continued to hang around, pulling within 55-46 on Lester's basket.  But then the Pirates built some separation, going on an 11-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 66-48 lead with 9:04 left on a Roach three pointer.

After Whitworth opened a lead as large as 19 points, PLU managed to claw back to within 70-59 on an Erik Swartout three-pointer, but only 3:22 was left in the game and that's as close as the Lutes would get. 

The Pirates were able to gain their advantage over PLU by getting tougher on the defensive end.  The Lutes made 50% (16-32) of their shots in the first half, but only 33% (9-27) after halftime.

Love, who had the game-clinching steal in last week's Pirate win at PLU, added four rebounds, four steals and three assists.  Roach finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, as did Drew Sears.  George Valle, who started his 115^th consecutive game, also scored ten for the Bucs.  Whitworth finished the game 29-59 (49%) from the field, including 38% (9-21) from three-point range.

Besides Miller's double-double, Lester added 12 points and Christy finished with 10 points and eight boards for PLU.  The teams ended up even in rebounding with 34 apiece.

The Lutes were playing in their first NWC tournament final since 1998.  That was also the last time PLU defeated Whitworth in Spokane, in the semifinals of that tournament.

The NCAA tournament field will be announced on Monday morning at 9:30 am (Pacific).