McMINNVILLE,ORE. – The Linfield Wildcats (15-6) hosted the Bearcats of Willamette (7-13) on February 2^nd in Ted Wilson Gymnasium for senior night. When the two squared off in Salem the Wildcats out-scored the Bearcats by seven. Linfield would be victorious again against Willamette topping them 82-69 on senior night.

"I was very proud of our seniors tonight. They played their hearts out for each other and all made positive contributions," said Wildcats coach Shanan Rosenberg. "Willamette has been a red-hot team in conference play and we knew we had a tough game on our hands."
 
1st Half
The Wildcats started all five of their healthy seniors in tonight's competition. Linfield started out on top as Negasi Hart drained a three off of the pass from Liam O'Reilly. Willamette went on a five-point run giving them an eight-point lead with a little over 11 minutes left to play before Riley Bruil found Will Burghardt for an easy layup. The Wildcats trailed by as many as seven-points with under eight minutes to play before they went on a nine-point run to tie the game up at 27 with 6:21 left in the half. Linfield closed out the half with a four-point run with points by Parker Collins and Bruil to extend their lead to nine.
 
2nd Half
Willamette came out ready to play in the second half as they drained three, three-pointers to cut the Linfield's lead to three points. However, back-to-back layups by Austin Hilton put the 'Cats back up by seven with 17:32 left to play. Grant Gibb knocked down back-to-back threes for the Wildcats and increased their lead to ten points with 11 minutes left to play. With just under three minutes left to play Linfield extended their lead to 16 points after Negasi made a layup and then converted on the three-point opportunity. Gibb sealed the deal for the Wildcats after he sank a three with a 1:30 left to play.
 
Linfield's stats
Negasi Hart had a huge night as he scored 16 points in 24 minutes played on his senior night. Two other Wildcats were able to get into double digits as Gibb knocked down 11 while Dempsey Roggenbuck added 10 points. All five of Linfield's seniors scored tonight as Bruil added seven points; O'Reilly, Collins, and Marcus Lord all tailed five for the Wildcats. Linfield managed to score 44 points off the bench as well as capitalizing on second chance points with 18.
 
Willamette's stats
Five Bearcats managed to score in the double digits. Jutus Eaglesmith had a team high of 14 points, while Jenkins added 12 points and 12 rebounds. Barba and Sutton each knocked down 11 and Watts added 10 for Willamette. The Bearcats managed to score 24 pints off of the bench and pick up eight off of Wildcat turnovers.

Rosenberg's remarks
"Negasi Hart player his best game in a Linfield uniform, I was proud to see that performance out of him. 
 
"Marcus Lord and Liam battled all night inside with Jenkins - who is a heck of a player - and did a great job with him. 
 
"Riley was the great leader he has always been and it showed tonight. Great to see Parker contribute as well. 
 
"I love these seniors and it's a very emotional night for us. I ask a lot of all of our players on and off the court and it has formed Linfield Basketball in to special culture. These guys have been the backbone of our culture and making Linfield Basketball relevant and exciting."
 
Next
Linfield will be back in action on Friday, February 8^th as the 'Cats travel to Spokane, Wash. for a 8:00 p.m. tipoff, then will head over to Whitman on Saturday, February 9^th.