MCMINNVILLE, ORE. – It was a thrilling win for the Linfield Wildcats Friday night in Ted Wilson Gymnasium, holding off a late comeback by the Whitworth Pirates to win 71-65 to move into a tie for first place with Whitworth.
The win improved Linfield to 14-5 overall and 9-2 in conference play, as well as a perfect 8-0 at home. The 'Cats are now riding a five-game win streak, their longest of the season.
Whitworth, ranked #14 in the country in the latest d3hoops.com Top-25 Poll coming into the night, dropped to 16-3 overall and 9-2 in conference. Friday night snapped a seven-game win streak for the Pirates, the second longest of the season for any Northwest Conference team.
The Wildcats and the Pirates now sit in a three-way tie for first place in the NWC with Pacific Lutheran (14-6, 9-2).
"That was an excellent team we beat tonight and our guys did an amazing job with our game plan," said head coach
Shanan Rosenberg. "Everyone had timely contributions tonight by I thought
Trey Bryant and
Carson Bonine did a great job controlling the pace of the game and defending their hearts out."
The 'Cats jumped out to an early lead, opening up the game on a 10-2 run. They never looked back from that point, refusing to relinquish the lead for the entirety of game.
Linfield first stretched their lead to double-figures for the first time in the ballgame at the 6:04 mark, 26-16 of the first half on a made free throw by Alex Jackzo.
Eventually the Wildcats stretched the lead to 15, the largest of the night, with seconds to go before the halftime break on a layup by
Dempsey Roggenbuck.
Roggenbuck, the NWC's second-leading scorer by points per game, eventually finished the night with a game-high 23 points, 15 of which came in the first half, on 9-of-16 shooting from the field to go with four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
"Dempsey capitalized on a number of opportunities tonight and really played a complete game," said Rosenberg.
The Wildcats built their lead on the strength of their first half defense. Through the first 20 minutes Linfield held Whitworth to 33.3 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three while forcing the Pirates to turn the ball over 11 times. Whitworth committed 16 turnovers on the night, leading to 18 points off turnovers scored for Linfield.
The 'Cats picked up where they left off coming out of halftime, not allowing the Pirates to come within single-digits until Whitworth guard Jerry Twenge hit a three at the 9:10 mark of the second half to make the score 59-50.
Linfield would stretch the lead back out to as much as 13, and even led by 10 with just 3:50 to play before Whitworth's Garrett Paxton drained a three-pointer to make the score 67-60 with 3:25 left. Paxton then followed with a fastbreak layup after a Linfield turnover to trim the lead to just five, the smallest it had been since the 9:51 mark of the first half.
Whitworth was then able to cut the score to 67-65 with just 1:42 to go after another made three, coming from from Rowan Anderson.
The Pirates second half rally was largely fueled by hot three-point shooting, mostly from Twenge and Anderson. Whitworth shot 9-for-18 from three in the second frame, and 15-for-33 from the field.
Anderson would finish with 18 points, 13 coming in the second half, to lead the Pirates with four made threes. Twenge added 15 points, with 12 in the second half, on 5-of-6 shooting from long range.
Anderson had a chance to tie the game with 27 seconds remaining but missed a jumper from the left elbow thanks to excellent defense by forward
Aaron Baune.
Roggenbuck pulled in the rebound, and was immediately fouled and sent to the line, where he drained both free throws to make the score 69-65.
The Pirates were able to get a good look from three on their final possession of the game, but the shot from Liam Fitzgerald was errant and brought in on the rebound by Baune. Baune was then fouled and sent to the line as well, where he hit both free throws to seal the game for the Wildcats. He had begun the night with an uncharacteristic 0-for-4 on free throws but found no issue on the most important two of the game.
"
Aaron Baune struggled with some things he usually does well, but he made some excellent plays in the final minutes on both sides of the ball to secure the win," said Rosenberg.
On the night, Baune contributed 11 points and five rebounds.
Max Lommen finished as Linfield's second-leading scorer with 12 points, five rebounds and a steal. Bryant added nine points on 3-of-6 shooting while pulling down a team-high nine rebounds, dishing out four assists and recording two steals.
For the game Linfield shot 48.2 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from three (6-for-21) and 64.7 percent from the free throw line (11-for-17).
Whitworth ended the night shooting 40 percent from the field, 41.4 percent from three (12-for-29) and 83.3 percent on free throws (5-for-6).
The Pirates won the rebounding battle 37 to 35 and pulled down 10 offensive rebounds, but could only turn them into seven second chance points. Linfield also scored seven second chance points on their five offensive rebounds. The 'Cats were able to own the paint all night, outscoring Whitworth on the interior 40 to 24.
The win was just Linfield's second victory over Whitworth in the last 28 meetings, but their second in the last three.
"We can't celebrate here," said Rosenberg. "We have another tough challenge tomorrow night. Our guys will be ready."
NEXT
The Wildcats complete a three-game home stand tomorrow night when they host the Whitman Blues (8-10, 6-4) with tip-off at 6:00. Linfield then only has four games left in the regular season, beginning with a trip to Forest Grove to host Pacific on Tuesday, Feb. 8. They'll then host George Fox on Friday, Feb. 11 before wrapping up their schedule at Pacific Lutheran and hosting Willamette.
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