MONMOUTH, Ore. - The Linfield Wildcats men's basketball team set a high bar for its season on Tuesday night, beating Division II Western Oregon 102-100 in an exhibition contest in Monmouth, Oregon.
 
It was Linfield's first win against a Division II opponent since the Wildcats last toppled Western Oregon 89-74 on Nov. 29, 2008, also on the Wolves' home court.
 
Linfield was led by a 26-point, six rebound performance from reigning Northwest Conference scoring champion Dempsey Roggenbuck with 17 of his points coming in the second half and 12 scored from the free throw line on 15 attempts. Roggenbuck shot 7 of 13 from the field.
 
"Dempsey turned it on and found ways to cause problems despite being guarded very tightly all night," head coach Shanan Rosenberg said.
 
Roggenbuck was supported by five other Wildcats scoring in double figures, including each of his fellow starters. As a team, the 'Cats shot 52.3 percent from the field and assisted on 24 of 34 made baskets.
 
Linfield competed with Western Oregon right out of the gate and controlled much of the action, leading by double figures in points in both halves. The Wolves led for the first 10:25 of the game before a Linfield three-pointer from Reece Gibb gave the 'Cats their first lead of the game off an assist by Max Lommen. Lommen paced the 'Cats in assists on the night with eight to go with his 15 points, second-most on the team.
 
Linfield stretched their first-half lead to as much as 11, the largest of the night for either team, on a Roggenbuck jumper assisted by Carson Bonine. Western Oregon rallied over the final few minutes of the opening half, going on an 18-6 run over the last 3:05, finalized with a three-pointer by guard Tyreek Price with six seconds remaining.
 
The 'Cats responded immediately out of the locker room, regaining the lead on an Aaron Baune three-pointer assisted by Alex Jaczko on the first play of the half. The second half played out much like the first, with both teams going back and forth before Linfield took control of the lead for good at 67-66 on a pair of free throws by newcomer Jacob Hjort with 13:55 to play.
 
Things stayed close for much of the remainder of the game before a 12-3 run extended the 'Cats' lead to 10, capped off with a fastbreak layup by Baune with 2:05 remaining. The Wolves, however, proved to keep things interesting by executing a late 13-5 run of their own, a stretch in which the 'Cats were whistled for six fouls, cutting the Linfield lead down to two with just 28 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Cameron Cranston.
 
Following the free throws and a Wolves timeout, Baune was intentionally fouled with 19 seconds remaining and sank what would be the game-sealing free throws. Baune finished the night with 14 points and seven rebounds.
 
Guard Daisone Hughes scored for Western Oregon with nine seconds left to get the score to 102-100, and then was able to steal the ball away from Bonine with four seconds to play. Hughes missed on his final shot, but Western Oregon secured the rebound and called a timeout with less than a second remaining. Bonine immediately got Hughes back, stealing the ball on the inbound pass following the timeout and closing out the win for Linfield.
 
"I was most proud that every time they made a run at us we never panicked and fought even harder," Rosenberg said. "Carson was nothing short of spectacular tonight, he made so many plays that don't show up on the stat sheet that were massive for us."
 
Bonine contributed 14 points with three three-pointers and four assists. Jaczko added 13 points of his own while leading all players in rebounds with eight, dishing out four assists and registering a block. Jackson Dupree added 10 points in just seven minutes off the bench on 4 of 4 shooting.
 
Hughes paced the Wolves with 31 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Cranston added 23 on 8 of 14 shooting.
 
The Wolves have been one of the top teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in recent years, qualifying for the GNAC Championships every year from 2014 to 2020 and reaching the Division II NCAA Tournament in four of those years, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2016.
 
Linfield's hustle showed all night, scoring 18 points off turnovers and 12 on the fast break despite turning over the Wolves just 11 times. The 'Cats also earned 35 trips to the free throw line compared to 24 for the Wolves, shooting 71.4 percent. Their hustle also showed by edging out Western Oregon on the boards, 39-36.
 
"Aaron and Jaczko did a phenomenal job in the paint against a very big team. They never backed down," said Rosenberg of his starting front court.
 
"Our guys did an amazing job of playing tough, together and poised tonight. I give Western Oregon a lot of credit for playing very hard and making things tough on us. The game could have easily gone the other way."
 
The Wildcats will look to carry their momentum into their official season opener next Saturday against Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington. Linfield's home opener will be on Nov. 20 against Portland Bible. Northwest Conference play begins Dec. 3 at Puget Sound.