NEWBERG, Ore. – Plenty of pure shooting from the Linfield Wildcats was the key to beating the George Fox Bruins Friday night at Miller Gymnasium. The 'Cats shot 60 percent from the field and
Dempsey Roggenbuck scored 27 points in a 91-87 victory.
"Man, I'm glad we found a way to win," said Linfield coach
Shanan Rosenberg. "George Fox played very hard and free tonight and you have to give them a lot of credit."
Linfield had a strong first half, exploding out to a 14-6 lead before the first media timeout.
Tanner Autencio got six quick points as the 'Cats converted on five of their first nine shots.
George Fox responded in the form of Kalu Strickland who was red-hot in the first frame. The junior scored eight straight points to bring the Bruins back within one point of the lead halfway through the first.
Linfield turnovers in the first half led to 16 points for George Fox, but the Wildcats tightened up and continued to let the three-pointers fly. The Wildcats hit on half of their attempts from deep, highlighted by a perfect 3-3 by Autencio on Bombs.
Roggenbuck scored 12 first half points and
Aaron Baune scored eight points, converting all three of his shots. The pair were instrumental in extending Linfield's first half lead, with Baune's three at the three minute mark making the Linfield lead 43-35. With a 60 percent field goal percentage, Linfield's lead was eight at the break.
The second half was full of back-and-forth action. Ryan Lacey hit his stride for George Fox with seven quick points. The Bruins made 11 of their 15 shots in the second half and three free throws from Lacey tied the game at 68 halfway through the final period. An Emilio Mancol step back three gave the Bruins the lead for the first time in the game.
The Wildcats were doing their part offensively as well, making 10 of their first 14 shots, but the lead continued to go back and forth. The Bruins was up 81-78 before the Wildcats made five straight free throws to get the lead back at 83-81.
Kalu Strickland capped off his impressive evening with a layup at just under a minute left to tie the score at 83 before senior
Austin Hilton made the clutch play of the game, getting the offensive rebound and put-back basket to take back the lead for Linfield.
The Wildcats locked up the victory by showing fantastic composure at the charity stripe. Linfield converted six-straight free throws with
Grant Gibb,
Max Lommen, and Roggenbuck calmly sinking the daggers to secure the win.
"We had a tough time guarding their small lineup, but found ways to get good stops and make good plays down the stretch," Rosenberg said. "
Tanner Autencio was very efficient and did a remarkable job vs the pressure with only one turnover. Dempsey made some key plays and free throws that helped us throughout."
Roggenbuck finished with 27 points on 9-16 shooting and 9-12 from the free throw line. Gibb finished with 15 points and Baune had 12 off the bench.
Austin Hilton had 10 big points to go along with six rebounds and four assists and Autencio had 11 points and four assists while only turning the ball over once.
"We made a lot of timely plays and stops when we needed them and that's a great sign for us," said Rosenberg. "We were up against some outstanding playmaking all night."
Kalu Stricklin was the high-man for the Bruins with 19 points and Ryan Lacey finished off his strong second half totaling 18 points for the game. Zach Sly was a spark plug off the bench with 13 points.
NEXT
Linfield (13-5, 7-2 in NWC) hosts Pacific at Ted Wilson Gymnasium Saturday at 6 p.m. It's the Big Game Bash presented by Jimmy John's so make sure you come out early and get one of the 150 free sandwiches and wear your favorite jersey. Coverage begins on the Linfield Sports Network at 5:40.