McMINNVILLE, Ore. - The Linfield men's basketball team flexed its resiliency Saturday night against Pacific Lutheran, coming back to win 87-84 after facing a 19-point second half deficit in a crucial Northwest Conference matchup.
"What a night for our guys, man am I proud of their resolve and faith tonight," said head coach
Shanan Rosenberg following the come-from-behind victory at Ted Wilson Gym. "PLU is an excellent team and very well-coached. We were really fortunate to win. Both teams played in rare air tonight. I think no one could have seen that game and not recognized moments of greatness and human spirit crescendo by both teams. It was a heck of a game."
The Wildcats advanced to 11-5 overall and 6-2 in the NWC, jumping the Lutes for second place in the league standings. PLU now sits in third place with a 10-6 overall record and 5-2 against conference opponents.
Senior
Dempsey Roggenbuck led the charge for Linfield, scoring 31 points on 10 of 16 shooting with four made threes, 7 for 8 shooting from the free throw line, four rebounds and two steals.
He was not the only premier NWC scorer on display Saturday night as PLU's Seth Hall led the Lutes with 29 points. Hall and Roggenbuck currently sit first and second in the conference in points per game, respectively.
The Wildcats were in control of the game through the opening minutes, quickly jumping out to an eight-point lead. However, the Lutes battled back to take their first lead of the night at 30-29. The teams traded leads for the rest of the half but it was PLU holding a 45-42 advantage at the break.
Both teams were hot in the first half, each shooting around 50 percent from the field and hitting six three-pointers apiece. Twenty-two of Roggenbuck's 31 points were scored in the first half.
But it was the Lutes that maintained the fire out of the locker rooms, going on a 21-11 run to begin the second half to put themselves in front 66-54 at the 12:57 mark. Following a Linfield timeout, the Lutes triggered another seven-point run to extend their lead to 19 points, the biggest of the night, with 11:11 to play.
Much of the Lutes' run was fueled by Hall, who scored 22 of his points on 8 of 10 shooting in the second half.
The PLU run was finally ended when junior forward
Reece Gibb checked into the game for the first time and drained a corner three to make the score 74-57. After five straight points from
Aaron Baune, Gibb was fouled on another three-pointer and hit all three free-throws to trim the deficit to 12 with 8:25 left.
Linfield got within single-digits on the following possession when
Max Lommen hit a three-pointer and cut PLU's advantage to 77-71 with 7:04 to play when Roggenbuck hit another three the possession immediately after.
Still trailing by seven with four minutes left, Linfield executed a 10-0 run over the remainder of the game. Two straight fast-break layups for Roggenbuck drew Linfield to within three, 84-81, before a layup by freshman guard
Trey Bryant made it a one-point game with 1:21 left.
Lommen was able to steal the ball from Hall on the Lutes next possession, and the 'Cats quickly fed Baune in the paint for a layup to put Linfield up 85-84 with 34 seconds left. Lommen then stripped Hall again and went coast-to-coast for a two-handed power dunk to put Linfield ahead 87-84 and an exclamation point on the 19-point comeback.
Bryant, Baune and Lommen all joined Roggenbuck in scoring in double-figures. Bryant finished as the 'Cats' second-leading scorer with 14 points on 5 for 10 shooting with two made threes, a game-high six assists, a block and a steal.
"All of our starters rose up tonight," said Rosenberg. "And Dempsey displayed amazing grace, maturity and leadership in resetting in a tough moment and coming back to lead us to victory."
Baune scored 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting, with four rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Ten of Baune's points came in the second half. Lommen ended the night with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
As a team, Linfield shot 51.7 percent from the field, 47.8 percent from three (11 for 23) and 93.3 percent from the free throw line (14 for 15).
The Lutes also shot the ball well all night, finishing at 50.8 percent on field goals, a scorching 66.7 percent from three-point range (10 for 15) and 75 percent on free throws (12 of 16).
Linfield only forced PLU to turn the ball over seven times but capitalized on its opportunities with 11 points off turnovers, many of those coming down the final stretch of the game. Linfield only coughed the ball up three times all night, matching its season-low set Nov. 23 against La Verne.
The 'Cats dished out 22 assists on 31 made field goals, also setting a season-best for assist-to-turnover ratio.
"All of our guys fought heart and soul for each other," said Rosenberg. "Being our fifth game in eight days, it's amazing what these kids accomplished during that stretch."
NEXT
As Rosenberg noted, the win capped off a stretch in which the Wildcats played five games in eight days due to rescheduling. They will enjoy five days of rest before traveling to Portland to play Lewis & Clark Friday night to begin the second half of the NWC schedule, with tip-off scheduled for 8 p.m. They'll then host Puget Sound on Saturday night, followed by hosting Whitworth on Feb. 4 and Whitman on Feb. 5.