McMINNVILLE, Ore. – It wasn't pretty, but the Linfield men's basketball team gutted out a 64-52 win over Piedmont, outscoring the Lions 40-28 in the second half Friday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
 
"That was an amazing defensive job tonight by both teams," head coach Shanan Rosenberg said. "The crowd was awesome, and I love having our students and community support us. Thank you, fans!"
 
The score was tied 24-24 at halftime before the Wildcats went on a run to down their counterparts from the USA South Athletic Conference. The Lions led by as much as eight points at the 18:32 mark in the second half. The 'Cats shot just 28.57 percent from the field in the first half but turned things around to connect on 42.86 percent in the second. They made a season-high 15 three-pointers, nine of which came in the second period.
 
"We had two teams playing hard and competing," Rosenberg said. "It was a great basketball game, and I give Piedmont a ton of credit and props. They have an excellent team."
 
A trio of players dropped 14 points to lead the 'Cats offensively. Senior guard Max Lommen had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists and a steal. He connected on 5 of 10 from the field and 4 of 8 from three-point range. Freshman guard Trey Bryant also scored 14 points with three assists, two rebounds and two steals.
 
"Max was amazing on the glass and made the most of his double-double tonight," Rosenberg said. "It's huge for our team to have him skying and snatching rebounds.
 
"I was thrilled with Trey's play down the stretch. He needed that, and he stepped up huge for us and made great plays."
 
Senior forward Aaron Baune nearly had a triple-double with 14 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks to go with a pair of assists. His eight blocks set the Linfield single-game record, eclipsing the previous mark of seven set by Sam Kreiger in 2005. Linfield's 50 three-point attempts also shattered the previous school record of 41 set in 2018.
 
"Aaron was a force of fortune all night," Rosenberg said. "He struggled a bit with turnovers in the first half, but he never gave in to the emotion of error. He's a winner."
 
The Lions made 40.91 percent of their shots in the first half but were limited to 32.35 percent in the second half. They made 5 of their 18 three-point attempts. Jordan Foote scored a game-high 18 points, knocking down 7 of 18 from the field and 4 of 7 from the free throw line. He also had a game-high 12 rebounds to go with four steals and two assists to complete a double-double. Orry Clements-Owens finished with 11 points while Justin Quick also scored in double figures with 10 points.
 
"I told the kids to take this hard-earned victory and apply their energy to their finals this coming week," Rosenberg said. "We'll break for four days before we start prepping for our trip to the east side."
 
NEXT
The 'Cats (5-2, 2-0 NWC) will continue non-conference play on the road, playing at Walla Walla on Dec. 20 and at Eastern Oregon on Dec. 21. They will return home on Dec. 28 to host Warner Pacific.