WALLA WALLA, WASH. – The Linfield Wildcats (15-7) traveled to Washington to take on #2 Whitman (17-4) in the Sherwood Athletic Center on February 9^th. Last time the two teams squared off in McMinnville, Linfield fell to the Blues. Despite holding the lead for most of the game the 'Cats fell in a heart breaker to the Blues 100-105.  
 
"To see our team respond after a heart wrencher last night tells you all you need to know about our guys - what a great group," said head coach Shanan Rosenberg 

1st Half
Whitman started out the game with a four-point lead. The Wildcats then answered as Tanner Autencio hit back-to-back three-pointers for the 'Cats to take the lead 9-7. Grant Gibb could not miss as he drained three, three-pointers from the left corner to extend the Wildcats lead to nine points with 16 minutes left to play. Linfield increased their lead to 12 points as Autencio hit his third three of the game to make it 29-17. Whitman went on a seven-point run with just over eight minutes left to play to close the gap on the Linfield. The Blues got within four of the Wildcats with 2:26 left to play, however the Wildcats went on a nine-point run and increased their lead to 13-points with 58 seconds left in the half. Whitman would score one more time before the half to give Linfield a 10-point lead heading into the locker room.  
 
2nd Half
 The Blues forced multiple turnovers on the Wildcats and were able to close the gap to five-points with 18 minutes left to play in the match up. Linfield went on an eight-point lead of their own to extend their lead to 11-points with 17 minutes left to play. Whitman goes on a nine-point run to take the lead for the first time since the beginning of the first half. The Blues would run with the lead and extend to as large as nine-points with just under four minutes to play. With 38 second left to play Riley Bruil hit a three to get the 'Cats within three of the Blues. Unfortunately, Whitman would knock down two free-throws to end the game at 100-105.
 
'Cat stats
Tanner Autencio had a game high of 23 points while also pulling down eight rebounds and adding eight assists for the Wildcats. After being six of seven from the three-point line Grant Gibb scored 18 points. Will Burghardt and Aaron Baune each added 13 points. One other Wildcat managed to get in the double digits, Liam O'Reilly had 12 points and added five rebounds. The Wildcats had a season high of 29 assists while shooting 61.1% from the field and 54.8% from behind the arc.
 
Blues' stats  
The Blues managed to have six players score in the double digits. Joey Hewitt lead Whitman with 19 points while Cedric Jacobs-Jones followed closely behind with 18 points. Whitman managed 17 steals and converted 38 points off of turnovers. The Blues shot 53.6% from the field and 39.1% from the three-point line.
 
Rosenberg's Thoughts 
"Tanner Autencio was spectacular tonight, he handled himself in a special way tonight. Grant Gibb found the groove tonight, I was really happy to see that, he was due," said Rosenberg.

"I thought our whole team defended well and rebounded with great tenacity. Ball security ultimately was our undoing, but we played a heck of a game against a great opponent. I'm excited to see us back in Oregon this week. Although we came away with two tough loses, we made big gains in terms of how we are playing and believing."
 
Next
Linfield will back in McMinnville on Tuesday, February 12^th for their last home game of the season as they take on George Fox at 8:00 p.m.