MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – Dempsey Roggenbuck scored the game-winning bucket with two seconds left to give Linfield a 79-78 win over Warner Pacific on Saturday night at Ted Wilson Gym.
 
"I'm proud that our guys never quit despite tough circumstances and found a way to win," said coach Shanan Rosenberg.
 
The Wildcats have won three straight and improve to 3-1 on the season. The Knights fall to 1-4 after the losing both ends of the back-to-back to the 'Cats.
 
Linfield led 45-41 at halftime, Warner Pacific came back to make it close by outscoring Linfield, 37-34 in the second.
 
"You have to give Warner Pacific a ton of credit tonight, they played exceptionally well and gave us all we could handle," said Rosenberg.
 
The Knights had a three-point lead at the 1:31 mark in the second half, Max Lommen brought the Wildcats to 78-77 with just over a minute left. The Knights had a chance to extend their lead but failed to convert a free-throw attempt by Drew Magaoay and a layup by Isaac Etter.
 
Wildcats' Will Burghardt took a three-pointer with five seconds left, which fell short. Roggenbuck was there to grab the rebound and put the Wildcats ahead, 79-78. Isaac Etter's three-pointer at the buzzer went off the rim.
 
"Dempsey had his hands full, being face guarded and double teamed but still managed a very good outing and defended very well. The last put back was a sheer act of his will to win," said Rosenberg.
 
Roggenbuck and Lommen had 22 points each for the Wildcats. Lommen had seven rebounds and five assists. Roggenbuck had four rebounds and three steals. Burghardt had 13 and five assists. Matt Berger also had five assists.
 
"Max Lommen had a whopper of an offensive scoring night and flew around on defense. It was great to see him play so well," said Rosenberg. "Aaron Baune gave us some key rebounds and key times."
 
Lommen was 4 for 5 in three-point attempts. Linfield made 12 three-pointers on a clip of 36.4 percent. Wildcats shot 47.7 percent from the field.
 
"Kellen George, Reece Gibb and Alex Jaczko did a very solid job for us off the bench," said Rosenberg.
 
The Knights led by as much as 14 points in the first half. Etter had 22 points and three rebounds in the game. Christian Hodge had 20 points and nine rebounds. Kadeem Strickland and Magaoy were in double digits as well with 12 and 11 points respectively. WPU shot 44.4 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from beyond-the-arc.
 
"We did some good things at times tonight, but every time we made a couple good plays it seemed like we gave up a rebound or turned it over at very inopportune times and they capitalized," concluded Rosenberg. 
 
UP NEXT
The Wildcats are back playing Northwest Conference games next week. Linfield hosts Pacific on Friday at 8 p.m. and heads to Forest Grove on Saturday, April 3 at 6 p.m.