McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Jordan Lester swished a game-changing three-pointer with 1:20 remaining and Ben College hit six three-pointers on the way to 26 points, elevating the seventh-ranked Whitworth Pirates past the Linfield Wildcats 78-75 in a wild Northwest Conference men's basketball game Saturday night inside Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
 
The upset-minded Wildcats held the lead through the latter portions of the second half before the resilient Pirates staged a late comeback.
 
Whitworth (13-2, 5-1 NWC) completed its weekend visit to Oregon with a 2-0 record, including Friday night's win at George Fox. Linfield (11-4, 4-2 NWC) lost its second straight NWC counter after a five-game winning string. Friday, the 'Cats dropped a nine-point decision to defending NWC champion Whitman.
 
Against the Pirates on Saturday, senior Liam O'Reilly turned in a monster performance, scoring a game- and career-high 27 points while adding four rebounds, two steals and an assist.
 
"I was very proud of how our guys responded after being down eight points at half," said Linfield coach Shanan Rosenbeg. "We were focused and determined against an excellent top 10 team."
 
How it played out
Linfield found itself in a hole early as Whitworth made 7 of its first 14 shots. Back-to-back three-pointers by College staked the Pirates to a 10-point lead, 16-6, with 5½ minutes gone.
 
Though O'Reilly worked his way free for 12 points in the opening 12 minutes, the Wildcats couldn't find their outside shooting touch, going 0 for 3 from three-point territory during that same span.
 
A layup by O'Reilly cut the margin to seven with less than 30 seconds before intermission but Jared Christy converted a free throw with one second left to give the Pirates a 42-34 halftime advantage.
 
In the first half, College could seemingly do no wrong from outside the arc, hitting his first four three-point attempts. Whitworth's junior guard went 6 of 8 from the field during the game's opening 20 minutes.  
 
As O'Reilly pumped in 21 points in the first half, Linfield shot 45.2 percent, but the 'Cats went 0 for 7 from three-point range. Whitworth hit 44.1 percent of its shots with College accounting for 19 of the Pirates' 42 first-half points.
 
Linfield made a run at the Pirates in the second half. Linfield forward Grant Gibb's ejection following a flagrant foul with 16:42 left only served to fire up the Wildcats and their crowd. The 'Cats launched a 7-0 run to pull within one point, 48-47.
 
Tied at 50 later on, Max Lommen gave the 'Cats their first lead with a three-point play. Linfield held the upper hand for the next five minutes.
 
Free throws by Isaiah Hernandez put the Pirates back in front, 62-61.
 
Will Burghardt's three pointers at the 5:00 mark pushed the 'Cats in front 66-64, but College helped the Pirates square the game at 72 with a three-point play with 2:03 left.
 
Lester's coffin corner, buzzer-beating three-pointer put Whitworth back in front 75-72 with 1:20 to play. Kyle Roach hit a jumper after that to put the visitors ahead by five with 29 seconds remaining but the Wildcats countered at the other end with Liam O'Reilly's three point play to make the score 77-75.
 
Linfield by the numbers
The Wildcats made four more field goals than the Pirates, 29-25, but the difference ultimately came from outside the three-point arc where the Pirates were 10 of 29. Linfield made just 2 of 15 long-range shots.
 
O'Reilly made 11 of 17 shots on his way to 27 points, though he was the only Wildcat to reach double figures in the scoring column. Dempsey Roggenbuck, Burghardt and Lommen all finished with nine points.
 
Linfield outscored Whitworth 41-36 in the second half, but the Pirates made the key shots when the game was on the line.
 
Whitworth summary
College hit 6 of 9 from three-point land on the way to 26 points. Hernandez scored 15 points off the bench. Christy grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with nine points and two assists. Roach totaled 12 points on 5 of 10 shooting. He added six rebounds, four assists and one steal.
 
Rosenberg's remarks
"We have a great team, but we are young in some areas and those deficiencies can get exposed against veteran teams with talent like Whitworth.
 
"Liam O'Reilly really kept things together for us with his scoring tonight.
 
"I was particularly proud of Max Lommen, Riley Bruil, Will Burghardt, Tanner Autencio, Aaron Baune and Austin Hilton who really came alive in the second half and gave us a great chance to win.
 
"Dempsey played his heart out but Whitworth did a terrific job making it hard on him all night.
 
"This is unreal group of guys, I'm so blessed to be their coach. They will be ready when we go to Fox on Tuesday.
 
Next
Linfield faces another key NWC showdown Tuesday night when the 'Cats head to Newberg to battle the George Fox Bruins. Tipoff inside the Wheeler Sports Center is set for 8 p.m.