McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Tanner Autencio scored a team-high 21 points in front of his hometown fans and the Linfield Wildcats competed a season sweep of the George Fox Bruins, winning 91-84 Tuesday night in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
 
Linfield (16-8, 9-6 NWC) ended a two-game losing slide while also clinching third place in the NWC team standings with one game to play.
 
George Fox (11-13, 6-9 NWC) must defeat Willamette in its regular-season finale, and hope for Puget Sound to defeat either NWC champion Whitworth or runner-up Whitworth on the road this weekend to claim the fourth and final NWC playoff spot.

"Man, it was an exciting finish to our final home game," said Wildcats coach Shanan Rosenberg. "We needed to be on the right side of this finish after last weekend. I'm really happy for our guys. It was a special night for our whole team, but especially our seniors."
 
Linfield linescores
Autencio, a McMinnville High School graduate, hit 7 of 13 shots, including 5 of 10 from three-point distance. He also contributed six assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
 
Riley Bruil scored 14 points while adding four rebounds and three assists. Liam O'Reilly dropped dozen points and swept the glass for six rebounds. Dempsey Roggenbuck and Aaron Baune each totaled 10 points.
 
Baune, another local product, made 4 of 8 shots and snatched six rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.
 
George Fox by the numbers
Mason Green-Richards hit six three-pointers on his way to a game-high 25 points. After scoring 16 points in the opening half, the Bruins star was limited to nine points after intermission.
 
Kalu Stricklin and Ryan Lacey both scored 13 points. Jackson Januik had nine points, six assists, four rebounds and four assists to help the Bruins keep pace with the Wildcats for all but the final few minutes.
 
1st half
Linfield hit its first five field goals before George Fox launched on a 10-0 run to take a 12-11 lead. Consecutive three-pointers by Green-Richards put the Bruins back in front, 26-25, with 9:20 to play. From there, the lead volleyed back and forth four more times before the Bruins inched ahead at the intermission.
 
Tied at 36, Green-Richards converted a rare four-point, giving the Bruins their largest lead to that point. Eventually, George Fox settled for a 42-39 halftime edge.
 
Green-Richards pumped in 16 first-half points to spark George Fox. Roggenbuck and Bruil both totaled seven points for Linfield.
 
Linfield outshot the Bruins from the field, 51.5 to 48.5 percent, and outrebounded the visitors by a 20-14 margin. But the Wildcats were a frosty 4 of 14 from three-point range, had just one free throw opportunity awarded, and turned the ball over 10 times in the half.
 
2nd half
Down five points in the early going, the Wildcats went on a 5-0 spurt to knot the game at 47. Will Burghardt's jumper was followed by a give-and-go play from Austin Hilton to Negasi Hart with just over 13 minutes left, giving the Wildcats a 56-53 advantage.
 
The lead continued to see-saw back and forth before the Wildcats went on a 9-2 run to open up their largest lead, 71-66, with 7:35 to go. Linfield never trailed after that.
 
The backbreaker came with 2:38 remaining as O'Reilly spun free for a layup in the paint, pushing the Wildcats in front by eight, 81-73.
 
Linfield heated up from outside the arc, nailing seven three-pointers in the period.

Rosenberg's remarks
"Two McMinnville natives played great tonight. Tanner really stepped up and made some key plays for us. It's great to see him so confident and eager to make plays. And Aaron Baune gave us some terrific minutes, too."
 
"Austin Hilton really rebounded well inside for us in key moments. He really played hard.
 
"Our guys did a great job of limiting turnovers in the second half to just five. That was a big deal for us with what I thought was a physical game. 
 
"I look forward to rolling this momentum into Saturday's game at Pacific. And focusing on that only until it's over, then moving on to the playoffs."
 
Next
Linfield wraps up its NWC regular-season schedule Saturday when the Wildcats visit Forest Grove to face the Pacific Boxers. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at the Stoller Center.