TACOMA, Wash.  It was a fine night to glance up for Whitman College, and not just at the trifecta of rare celestial phenomena on display.

A full "snow" moon, a penumbral eclipse, a green-headed comet and there, atop the Northwest Conference men's basketball standings for good, the Whitman basketball team.

The Blues beat host University of Puget Sound 92-87 Friday to clinch at least a share of the program's first conference title since 1987 and first as an NCAA institution. Whitman could mathematically clinch the first men's basketball championship in 30 years and 12th since 1927 with a win Saturday, but the Friday victory definitively secured the top seed in the Northwest Conference tournament for the second-ranked Blues, who have never hosted a conference tournament championship game.

"I'll tell you what," Whitman head coach Eric Bridgeland said. "They way these guys are doing it, the way they're supporting each other and having fun, I can't imagine it being any better or more enjoyable."

Joey Hewitt came off the bench to score 23 points, Austin Butler added 17 points and Tim Howell had 15 for Whitman (22-0, 13-0 in NWC).

Whitman never trailed in the second half, but PLU -- which shot 56 percent from the floor and made 11 of 20 3-pointers -- refused to wilt, even after the Blues stretched ahead by 16 points with 8:53 left in the game. Carlos Mancasola hit three of his four 3-pointers down the stretch to help the Loggers get as close as three points, 87-84, inside the final minute.

Jack Stewart hit a pair of free throws and Hewitt scored a layin to help the Blues hold on.

"Every team that we're playing is in position for a playoff spot," said Bridgeland. "You're going to get everyone's best, anyways, because they're playing for something."

While UPS shot a higher percentage, it could not protect the ball. Whitman scored 31 points off 23 Loggers turnovers while committing just five turnovers itself. Hewitt and Butler had three steals apiece and Howell two; the Blues plucked 12 as a squad.

Butler also had six rebounds to share team-high honors on the glass with JoJo Wiggins. He dished five of the Blues' 12 assists and made 7 of 10 field goals. Hewitt was 8-of-13 shooting, including 3 of 6 from long range. Stewart added 11 points, Jase Harrison nine points and Wiggins seven.

Whitman slinked into halftime with a one-point advantage despite torrid shooting by the fired-up hosts, who thrilled a large, raucous crowd by making their first four 3-pointers of the game in stretching a 17-8 lead. The Loggers cooled off -- slightly -- and went to recess having made 15 of 24 shots (62.5 percent) and 5 of 7 3-pointers.

"We overcame a lot tonight. (UPS) got good looks and hit them," Bridgeland said. "It wasn't perfect. But it's a matter of figuring out how to get it done.

"We have a team full of guys that can make plays," he added. "We're in a good place."

UPS struggled mightily with Whitman's pressure in the first half, coughing up 15 turnovers the Blues converted to 19 points. Whitman took a 22-21 lead with a 7-0 run and later built a 36-27 advantage with a 9-0 run.

Butler had 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting in the first half, and Hewitt came off the bench to score nine points.

Whitman fished the '87 season in a three-way tie for first place with Pacific and Willamette. It last won an outright title in '80-'81, going 10-3 to finish 1.5 games ahead of second-place Pacific Lutheran in the then-seven team NAIA conference.

Whitman visits Pacific Lutheran at 6 p.m. on Saturday.