McMINNVILLE, Ore. –
Dempsey Roggenbuck finished just short of his career high with 31 points, helping the Linfield Wildcats defeat cross-county rival George Fox 107-83 in Northwest Conference action Saturday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
Roggenberg hit 12 of 18 shots from the field and 6 of 7 at the free throw line. He added three steals, two assists and a pair of rebounds.
"Dempsey was absolutely sensational tonight offensively," said Wildcats coach
Shanan Rosenberg. "It was a special night for a special player."
The Wildcats improved to 2-0 in the NWC and 8-3 overall. George Fox saw its record slip to 1-1 in conference play and 5-6 overall.
Roggenbuck was joined by four other Wildcats who all reached double figures.
Tanner Autencio came just short of a triple-double, stuffing the stat sheet with 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and one steal.
Austin Hilton was fantastic off the bench, adding 17 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.
"Tanner was also terrific tonight handling the press and being a great leader for us. Austin played one of his best games in a Linfield uniform. His leadership and effort this weekend were nothing short of spectacular.
Will Burghardt really found his rhythm and made some great plays for our team, as did
Max Lommen."
Both teams shot the ball extremely well, highlighted by a 73 percent field goal percentage for Linfield in the final half. When all was said and done, both teams finished over 50 percent from field, led by Linfield's season-best 66 percent.
The first half saw the two teams trade leads back and forth, with the biggest lead being Linfield's four-point edge 10 minutes into the frame. The 'Cats extended the lead to seven on a
Will Burghardt three-pointer. The junior finished with 13 points and six assists.
Roggenbuck helped extend the lead to nine before another Burghardt three made pushed the spread to 12, with Linfield taking that lead into the break. George Fox make a valiant attempt to get back into the game. Wesley Reynolds scored with a season-high 24 points to lead the Bruins.
As they did throughout the game, it was Linfield which had all the answers and the Wildcats' second-half lead was never fewer than eight points.
Aaron Baune had 13 points in his second consecutive start and
Max Lommen contributed seven points off the bench.
"George Fox is a really good offensive team and can make it tough with the press," noted Rosenberg. "They play hard and we had to play very well tonight to have success."
Linfield held Ryan Lacey, the NWC's fifth-leading scorer, to just two points. Emilio Mancol was strong in 17 minutes, scoring 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting.
"I was most impressed with the heart and soul our team played with," said Rosenberg. "They really showed their tremendous character and resolve coming off some tough losses over break. I'm very proud of all of our players."
NEXT
Linfield travels to Tacoma for dates with Pacific Lutheran on Friday and then Puget Sound on Saturday. Tipoff with the Lutes is set for 8 p.m. with coverage on the Linfield Sports Network beginning at 7:40 with the Farnham Electric Pregame show. Tipoff on Saturday is at 6 p.m., with coverage beginning at 5:40 on the LSN.