MCMINNVILLE, ORE.- The Linfield men's basketball team had one of their most impressive wins of the season Saturday night, beating the Whitman Blues 102-83 to extend their win streak to six and improve to 8-0 on their home court.
The win improved Linfield to 15-5 overall and 10-2 in conference play while Whitman fell to 8-11 overall and 6-5 against conference opponents. The Wildcats sit in a three-way tie for first place in the Northwest Conference with Whitworth and Pacific Lutheran while the Blues hold the four seed.
The game started out evenly through the first few minutes, but a Whitman lead at 8-6 would be the last time they led for the rest of the game. Linfield grabbed the lead at 10-8 on a layup by sophomore
Jackson Dupree. Eventually the Wildcats extended their lead to 16, 56-40, going into halftime on a made jump shot by senior
Dempsey Roggenbuck.
The Wildcats built their lead on the strength of hot shooting, putting up a scorching 64.5 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three while hitting 10 of 12 free throw attempts. Much of which came from junior guard
Carson Bonine, who scored 13 of his eventual 19 points in the first half. Bonine would eventually finish 7-for-9 shooting, 5-for-6 from three and five assists. His 19 points were the second most he's scored in a game in his career.
"
Carson Bonine was amazing tonight, he played with great confidence and aggressiveness," said head coach
Shanan Rosenberg after the win. "Him and Alex Jackzo played amazing defense as well. I'm super proud of those two."
Roggenbuck also scored 13 points in the first half, and finished with a game high 21 on 9-for-14 shooting, five rebounds and two assists.
"Dempsey played a tremendous game tonight, but his leadership in keeping our team on point was incredible," said Rosenberg. "He has really become something special in his approach with his teammates."
Senior
Aaron Baune also had a big role in Linfield's first half lead, scoring 12 points, in part thanks to 7-for-8 shooting from the free throw line. Baune would end the night with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists on just 3-for-7 shooting from the field, but with an 8-of-9 mark from the free throw line.
"I also thought
Aaron Baune played a great offensive game for us as well. Good turnaround from last night, but I know how capable he is and how important he is to our team," added Rosenberg.
Linfield kept its foot on the gas coming out of the locker room, and eventually stretched their lead to 21 on a converted and-one attempt by freshman
Trey Bryant. They'd eventually extend the lead to 27, the biggest of the night, on a made three by Bonine off an assist from
Tomas Wolber.
The Wildcats got big contributions from their bench, with 33 points coming from the Linfield reserves. 22 of those points came from Jaczcko and Dupree, with Jackzo scoring 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting and pulling in three rebounds while Dupree scored 10 on 5-for-5 shooting and grabbed five rebounds, tying with Roggenbuck to lead the team.
On the night Linfield shot a season high 62.3 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from three (9-for-22) and 73.9 percent on free throws (17-for-23). It was the third time this season the 'Cats scored 100 or more points in a game.
Whitman ended the game shooting 49.3 percent from the field but just 29.6 percent from three (8-for-27) and 69.2 percent from the line (9-for-13).
Although Whitman won the rebounding battle 32 to 30, Linfield dominated inside, scoring 50 points in the paint and was able to capitalize on Whitman's 12 turnovers, scoring 13 points as a result.
This was just Linfield's second win over Whitman in the last 23 meetings between the two teams, the first coming on Feb. 21, 2020. The 102-83 final was Linfield's largest margin of victory over Whitman since 2008.
"It was a great ending to a weekend of intense competition," said Rosenberg. "I was super proud of how our whole team rose to the occasion and played their best basketball of the year."
"But there's more work to be done, and we can still improve."
NEXT
With just four games remaining in the regular season, the 'Cats head to Forest Grove Tuesday night to take on the Pacific Boxers (8-13, 4-8). They then host George Fox on Friday the 12
th before a crucial matchup at Pacific Lutheran on Feb. 18. The schedule wraps up with Senior Day on Feb. 19 with Linfield hosting Willamette (6-13, 3-8).