McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Led by a season-high 34 points from senior Dempsey Roggenbuck, the Linfield men's basketball team held off the Warner Pacific Knight 77-74 Tuesday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
 
Playing in his first game for the Wildcats since missing the last three contests due to injury, Roggenbuck shot 12 of 20 from the field and 6 of 8 from the free throw line with four three-pointers and four rebounds.
 
"It was good to have Dempsey back in the lineup," head coach Shanan Rosenberg said. "He was spectacular tonight and really stepped up when we needed him most."
 
Linfield came out strong, opening the game confidently and leading 24-14 with 9:27 left in the first half. However, after a Roggenbuck layup at the 7:06 mark, the 'Cats went ice cold, unable to make another field goal for the remainder of the half, resulting in the Knights holding a 30-29 lead going into the break.
 
Roggenbuck led Linfield in a charge out of the locker room, scoring 11 straight points for the Wildcats to open the second half, culminating in taking the lead back for Linfield off a three-pointer to make the score 39-37.
 
Of Roggenbuck's 34 points, 18 came in the second half. Warner Pacific's Isaac Etter scored 13 of his own in the second, finishing with 19 on the game to lead the Knights.
 
It was a back-and-forth game for much of the remainder of the evening before Linfield grabbed the lead for good with 3:19 left on a Trey Bryant three-pointer.
 
The freshman Bryant finished as the 'Cats' second-leading scorer with 11 points while pulling in a team-high six rebounds in addition to two assists and two steals.
 
"We had a few shooting woes tonight that affected our defense, but we found ways at the right time and the whole team contributed," Rosenberg said.
 
The game was iced with four Linfield trips to the free throw line off intentional fouls with senior Max Lommen hitting 6 of 6 free throw attempts over the final 40 seconds.
 
Despite going 0 of 5 from the field, Lommen still finished with 10 points thanks to 10 of 14 free throw shooting. Lommen also pulled down four rebounds while dishing out four assists and snagging four steals, both team highs.
 
Junior Alex Jaczko provided a spark in 20 bench minutes with six timely points, two rebounds and a career-high four assists. He also contributed a block and a steal.
 
"Jaczko gave us a huge lift off the bench and really played well tonight. I was proud of his efforts," Rosenberg said.
 
In addition to recording a season-high, it was also a historic night for Roggenbuck. Entering the game with 1,693 career points, he passed Dave Craven for fifth in total career points in program history with his final made field goal of the first half. Roggenbuck's current career total stands at 1,724, 194 points behind Bill Machamer (1,918 points) for fourth all-time.
 
On the night, Linfield shot 43.9 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three (10 of 30) and 68 percent from the free throw line (17 of 25). Warner Pacific shot 44.1 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from three (9 of 24) and 86.7 percent from the free throw line (13 of 15).
 
Although Warner Pacific won on the boards, 41 to 31, Linfield forced the Knights into 17 turnovers, leading to 15 points. Warner Pacific was limited to just five assists while the Wildcats dished out 18 while turning the ball over just 10 times.
 
"Our team is still a work in progress. We show flashes and minutes of brilliance, but we need to string more of those together and minimize execution errors on both sides of the ball," Rosenberg said.
 
"Warner Pacific is a very good team," Rosenberg said. "We should feel good about beating a tough opponent that played very hard."
 
The Wildcats improved to 7-3 with the win.

NEXT
Although Linfield was scheduled to face Wisconsin-Stevens Point in McMinnville on Dec. 30, that game has been canceled due to weather-related travel complications. The Wildcats will instead play Willamette in a non-Northwest Conference contest on Jan. 1 in McMinnville with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m.