MCMINNVILLE, Ore. –
Trey Bryant posted his second career triple-double,
Reece Gibb recorded his first career double-double and
Carson Bonine scored a season-high 21 but none of it was enough to fend off a hot shooting Willamette Bearcats team as Linfield fell 98-95 Tuesday night in an overtime thriller in Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
The Bearcats unleashed a barrage of threes late in regulation, hitting 10 of 14 three-point attempts in the second half to force overtime.
"Ultimately, Willamette made more plays down the stretch than we did. You have to give them credit for shooting so well," said Wildcats coach
Shanan Rosenberg.
Initially, Willamette (5-6, 1-2) controlled the early action thanks to hot shooting from Josiah Frank and Ryder Hsuing, with a hot start from Gibb, who scored 11 of Linfield's first 12 points, keeping the Wildcats (4-7, 1-2) in the game.
Eventually the rest of the Wildcats heated up as well, hitting six straight threes down the stretch of the first half. Linfield gained control of the game when Bonine connected from downtown with 4:09 remaining in the first half to give the 'Cats the lead at 37-36, eventually leading 49-41 at halftime.
Linfield held the lead for much of the second half, stretching it to double-digits multiple times and holding their largest lead of the night of 16 points following a 9-0 run to make the score 72-56 with 8:58 remaining in the game.
The Bearcats showed they wouldn't go down easily though, immediately answering to trim the deficit to six. Linfield responded to stretch the lead back out to 12 on a pair of made free throws by Gibb with 3:11 left, but Willamette outscored the Wildcats 15-3 over the final three minutes to force overtime with the score tied at 86.
Ten of those 15 points, including the game-tying free throws, were scored by Jack Boydell, the leading scorer for the game and Willamette's leading scorer on the season. Boydell finished with 31 points, 25 of them coming in the second half and overtime.
With the score tied at 95 and 1:11 left to play in overtime, Boydell stepped to the line to give Willamette the lead for good with a made free throw. The Willamette defense clamped down to force a Linfield shot-clock violation the following possession, before Frank scored with 15 second remaining to give Willamette a three-point lead.
The Bearcats continued their strong late-game defense with another stop out of Linfield time-out, as the Wildcats were just late to get a shot off at the final buzzer.
For the game, Linfield won many parts of the stat sheet, taking 24 more shots than the Bearcats, dominating the rebounding battle 47-30 with a season-high 24 offensive rebounds leading to 32 second chance points, getting 54 points from the bench and posting an assist to turnover ratio of 28 to 13.
But Willamette's shooting was the difference maker, with the Bearcats knocking down 56.9 percent of their shots including an astonishing 19 of 34 from three (55.9 percent).
Linfield meanwhile shot 42.7 percent from three and hit 16 of 46 three-point attempts (34.8 percent).
Bryant scored 14 points on the night to go with his 11 rebounds, 12 assists and three steals. His two-career triple-doubles are the only two in recorded Linfield basketball history.
Gibb's 21 points with five made threes tied his career-high in scoring, and his 11 rebounds were also a career-high. Bonine's 21 points, to go with six rebounds and four assists, were the second-most points he's scored in a game in his career.
Freshman
Danilo Petrovic and senior
Alex Jaczko both finished in double-figure scoring off the bench as well, with Petrovic scoring 15 on 7 for 8 shooting with four rebounds and Jackzo adding a season-high 13 points on 5 for 10 shooting with four rebounds.
"
Reece Gibb did a great job rebounding," praised Rosenberg. "
Danilo Petrovic gave us some great minutes, too."
Boydell was followed in scoring for Willamette by Frank and Hsuing with 28 points and 21 points, respectively. Only four other Bearcats registered points, with none scoring more than six.
NEXT
Linfield looks to bounce-back and snap its three-game skid on Friday night against Pacific Lutheran (6-5, 0-2 NWC), once again in McMinnville with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m.
The Wildcats then head to Portland on Jan. 13 to take on Lewis & Clark (7-4, 1-1 NWC) before returning home to host Puget Sound (8-3, 1-1 NWC) on Jan. 14.