McMINNVILLE, ORE. – A back-and-forth battle ended in heartbreak for the upset hungry Linfield Wildcats Friday night at Ted Wilson Gym, where the Whitman Blues escaped McMinnville with their unbeaten record intact, 82-78.
 
 
NWC implications
Linfield lost for just the second time in NWC play. The Wildcats' last loss to a conference opponent came at Pacific in early December. Linfield sits at 5-2 and 11-4 overall. Whitman remained the only unbeaten team in the NWC at 7-0 and 16-0. Linfield sits third place in the NWC standings, half a game up on the fourth-place Puget Sound Loggers. At season's end, the top four teams advance to the NWC playoff tournament.
 
Linfield leaderboard
The Wildcat offense distributed its scoring throughout the lineup in the opening 20 minutes. Freshman Dempsey Roggenbuck scored a team-high 14 points. Troy Arce had one of his better performances as a Wildcat, totaling 13 points, three rebounds and three assists. Liam O'Reilly scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds. Tyler Watts added 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists.  
 
"We rebounded very well and defended most of the game exceptionally," said Rosenberg. "That's an outstanding team and played them to the wire."
 
How it played out
Linfield took to an early lead, 9-5, after Austin Hilton threw down and rim-shaking dunk fresh off of the bench in the opening minutes. The teams consistently traded blows in a highly entertaining half of basketball. Midway through the first half, Linfield trailed by one, 15-14. The 'Cats rallied behind an charged home crowd and quality bench minutes from Marcus Lord, Parker Collins and Hilton. The Blues found themselves in foul trouble and Linfield saw the charity stripe 15 times in the first period.
 
In the first period, the two sides traded the lead three times. Suffocating on defense, Linfield allowed just 34 points in the first half, trailing 34-30 at the break. The largest lead of the half went to Whitman, which led by as many as five in the final minute.
 
The second half started with the same persistent energy as the first. Linfield ripped off two quick buckets and tied the game at 34 with a cutting layup by Roggenbuck. The 'Cats retook the lead with 13:30 left to play, 44-43. Fouls continued to stack up on both sides, Linfield carried eight team fouls at the 12-minute mark in the second half. Whitman struck with a Howell triple and pushed the Blues up seven for their largest lead of the game. The 'Cats answered with a three of their own by O'Reilly that chipped away at the lead once more.
 
Both sides caught fire inside of 10 minutes to play. Seemingly every made shot was answered with another. With five minutes to go, Whitman led by just four but continued to hit clutch shots. Trevor Osborne knocked down a triple and quieted a rocking Linfield student section. Whitman's lead reached as many as 10 at the 4:15 mark. Multiple trips to the line by both sides kept the Blues' lead at double digits as time worked off the clock. A quick transition bucket by Arce slashed the Whitman lead to six with 1:13 left. Arce came back after a timeout with a clutch three-pointer with under 30 seconds left to make it 78-75. The Blues closed the game by sinking a handful of free throws.
 
"After the game our guys were hurting," said Rosenberg. "They are competitors but we know all our thoughts have to be on Whitworth (Saturday)."
 
Free-throw woes
Both sides struggled from the stripe. Linfield shot 53 percent and Whitman just 35 percent in the first period. Physical play and aggressive offense led to 29 free-throw attempts at halftime.
 
At the final horn, the 'Cats shot 59 percent while the Blues shot just 60 percent from the free-throw line.
 
Whitman by the numbers
Scoring early for the Blues was Osborne, who delivered nine points in the first half and finished with 20. Austin Butler totaled 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds to go along with five assists. Joey Hewitt had a relatively quiet night with just 11 points in 22 minutes. Austin Butler scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Jaron Kirkley scored 10 points and three boards.
 
Next
Linfield returns to Ted Wilson Gym to tackle the Whitworth Pirates Saturday night at 6 p.m. Cheer on the 'Cats and wear your favorite jersey to the House of Hustle on "Jersey Night."