McMINNVILLE, Ore. – In a battle of Wildcats from opposite corners of the country, the Louisiana College Wildcats defeated the Linfield Wildcats 85-74 Sunday afternoon inside Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
 
Kae'ron Baker slashed his way through the Linfield defense for a game-high 21 points while adding seven assists, five rebounds and a couple of steals. Jaylen Rhone scored 20 points and collared three rebounds for the blue-and-orange-clad Wildcats.
 
"Lousiana played a great game," Linfield coach Shanan Rosenberg said afterward. "They played hard, played together and were relentless on the boards."
 
Four Linfield players reached double figures in the scoring column, led by Dempsey Roggenbuck's team-best 20 points. The lanky Linfield junior connected on four three-pointers while adding seven rebounds and three assists. Tanner Autencio delivered 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting. Autencio also snagged seven rebounds in 36 minutes of action.
 
Louisiana College scored the game's first eight points to take early command. Linfield battled back to take its first lead at the 9:55 mark, 17-16, on Autencio's three-point bucket. The lead volleyed back and forth several more times before Louisiana College took a narrow 37-35 halftime advantage on a layup in the paint by Baker with 34 seconds remaining in the period.
 
"Our effort and tenacity was too inconsistent. It looked like we were enjoying Christmas break and had very little urgency," said Rosenberg. "We made a good run in the second half, but couldn't sustain the stops, rebounds and execution we needed down the stretch. Credit Lousiana College for that."
 
The game seemed to turn in the visitors' favor early in the second period. With Baker, Jaylen Rhone and K.J. Bilbo converting baskets, Louisiana College netted the first seven points of the second half to snatch a 44-35 lead. Once more, Linfield battled back to make it a one-possession game, this time on a three-pointer by Grant Gibb that pulled Linfield to within one point, 51-50, with 11:54 left. But another 8-0 run put Louisiana College back in the driver's seat for good.
 
When all was said and done, Louisiana College had outscored Linfield in the paint, 38-24, and finished with a 16-5 differential on second-chance points. The visiting Wildcats outrebounded their namesakes 42-36 and outshot them 48.5 percent to 41.3.
 
Gibb made 4 of 8 shots on his way to 14 points. Aaron Baune contributed 10 points in 14 minutes off the bench.
 
"We'll need to do many things better with conference play upcoming if we expect to be factor in the conference race."
 
NEXT
Linfield heads to Forest Grove to battle the Pacific Boxers Friday night at 8 p.m. Live coverage on the Linfield Sports Network begins around 7:45 immediately following that night's women's contest.