PORTLAND, Ore. – The Linfield men's basketball team fell 87-74 to the Warner Pacific Knights on Thursday night at Bart Valentine Court.
The Wildcats (3-4, 1-1) found themselves at an early deficit thanks to a hot-shooting start for the Knights (6-2, 3-0).
Although the game was even through the opening stretch, Warner Pacific opened up a 10-point lead with 4:15 left to play in the half and eventually led 41-26 at the break thanks to 53.3 percent shooting from the field while holding Linfield to just 31.1 percent.
Warner Pacific also went a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line while Linfield shot just 4-8 in the first half.
The Knights kept things going their way to open the second half, eventually stretching their lead to as many as 21 with just under 10 minutes left.
Linfield did battle back late to trim the deficit to as little as 12. The Wildcats shot a much-improved 53.6 percent from the field and 15 for 18 from the free throw line to outscore the Knights 48-46 in the second half.
"We had a number of good moments tonight in terms of how we were playing to create shots and defend," head coach
Shanan Rosenberg said following the loss.
"Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough. Too many turnovers and a tough shooting night from three really hurt us when they were playing and shooting that well. Warner Pacific played an excellent game."
Senior
Carson Bonine and junior
Jackson Dupree led the 'Cats with 17 points apiece, the latter's being a new season-high.
Bonine shot 4 for 7 from the field with three made three-pointers and 6 for 7 free throw shooting. Dupree went 7 for 14 from the field and also added a team-high six rebounds.
Alex Jackzo and
Danilo Petrovic contributed nine points apiece off the bench, with Petrovic adding four rebounds.
Trey Bryant led Linfield in assists with six to go with seven points and three rebounds.
Four Knights finished in double-figures on the night, with guards Isaac Etter and Thomas Miles leading the way, Etter with 17 and Miles with 15.
On the night Linfield shot 42.9 percent from the field and just 29.2 percent from three, making just seven of 24 attempts from long-range. Linfield also struggled to hold onto the ball, with their 14 turnovers resulting in 21 points for Warner Pacific.
"We are a young team learning and will keep focusing on improvement and development," said Rosenberg.
The Knights shot 52.5 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from three (7 for 18). They also went 18 for 20 from the free throw line for the game while Linfield finished 19 for 26.
Warner Pacific won the rebounding battle 36-31, but Linfield managed to pull down 10 offensive rebounds to the Knights' 9.
"Considering our size disadvantages, I thought we rebounded well," said Rosenberg. "That's great improvement for our team."
NEXT
The Wildcats will look to get back in the win column on Saturday night, returning home to Ted Wilson Gymnasium in McMinnville to host the Walla Walla (0-6, 0-4), with tip-off scheduled for 7:00.
They'll then take a week off from games before heading to Spokane to play in the Whitworth Tipoff on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21. On Tuesday they'll face off against No. 24 Mary Hardin-Baylor (3-2, 1-1) before challenging St. John's (6-2, 4-1) on Wednesday.
They'll then break for Christmas before concluding their non-conference slate for the season against Illinois Wesleyan (4-3, 2-0) on Thursday, Dec. 29.