SPOKANE, WASH. – The Linfield Wildcats (15-6) traveled to Washington to take on #15 Whitworth (17-4) in the Whitworth Field House on February 8
th. Last time the two teams squared off in McMinnville, Linfield was edged by the Pirates losing by three- points. This time around the 'Cats fell to the Pirates 74-73.
"This one really hurts," said head coach
Shanan Rosenberg.
"Our kids played extremely hard and executed our game plan exceptionally well. As a coach you want your team to be rewarded for a night like tonight. My heart is broken for these guys, but I'm really proud of our team."
1st Half
After getting the start
Tanner Autencio drained a three then got an easy bucket to give the 'Cats an early lead. Back-to-back buckets by
Aaron Baune increased the 'Cats lead to five-points. With ten minutes left to play in the first half the Wildcats lead 21-16. The Wildcats were able to extend their lead to ten points as
Riley Bruil found
Liam O'Reilly under the basket. The Pirates managed to cut the Wildcats lead to six-points as Christy knocked down a three with three seconds left in the half. The Wildcats shot 46.4% from the field while Whitworth shot 38.5%.
2nd Half
The 'Cats kept their momentum from the first half as O'Reilly found
Dempsey Roggenbuck for three. Whitworth countered with a three of their own to stay within six to start the second half. The Pirates continued to cut at the 'Cats lead as Bishop drained a jumper and cut Linfield's lead to five points.
Riley Bruil picked up his first points of the game as he drained a three to give the Wildcats an eight-point lead. Whitworth got within four as College knocked down two free-throws, but
Negasi Hart responded instantly with a layup. O'Reilly found Roggenbuck in stride to give the Wildcats an eight-point lead with 3:53 left to play in the game. A nine-point run by the Pirates resulted in a lead change and gave the Pirates a 74-73 lead.
'Cat stats
The Wildcats were led be
Dempsey Roggenbuck who had a game high of 23 points and shot 88.8% from the field.
Tanner Autencio also managed double digits as he scored 10 points and added four rebounds. Both
Grant Gibb and
Liam O'Reilly added nine points for the Wildcats. Gibb added eight rebounds while O'Reilly pulled down five. Linfield shot 48.1 % from the field and 52% from behind the arc.
Pirates' stats
Jared Christy led the Pirates with 21 points and 10 rebounds while Jordan Lester and Ben College each managed to add 15 points. Isaiah Hernandez added 13 points for the Pirates. Whitworth shot 46.7% from the field and averaged 1.08 assist to turnover ratio.
Rosenberg's Thoughts
"Our whole team put themselves in position to win. It's unfortunate we could not make some plays in the last couple minutes that could have won us the game.
We could point to a variety of things that could have helped us, but they are small things tonight. We had a great defensive game overall and they had to make some tough shots.
It was nice to see us shoot the ball so well, Dempsey was pretty amazing.
It does not get any easier traveling in a snow storm to Whitman tomorrow, but I would not want to be with any other group. I love this team."
Next
Linfield will be back in action on Saturday, February 9
th at Whitman College for a 6:00 p.m. tip off in Walla Walla, Washington.