SALEM, Ore. – The hottest team in the Northwest Conference resides in McMinnville as the Linfield Wildcats won their third consecutive game and fourth of their last five.
 
Willamette's (5-14, 1-10 NWC) win over Linfield in the first half is the Bearcats' lone win in NWC play. The Wildcats avenged that first-round loss with a lopsided 90-73 win over the Bearcats Tuesday night at Cone Field House.
 
A double-double for Trey Bryant and 20 points from both Reece Gibb and Alex Jaczko led the way. Bryant scored 17 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds while adding three assists, a block and four steals. The 15 rebounds are ranked in the top-20 of Linfield's single-game record book. Bryant played 33 minutes in his first start since Jan. 20. He's riding back-to-back double-doubles and has three on the season.

"Trey was a monster on the boards for us and made some terrific plays in the second half on both ends of the floor," head coach Shanan Rosenberg said.
 
Jaczko knocked down 8 of 15 from the field on his way to establishing a new career high. His previous best mark was the 17 points he dropped against George Fox on Saturday.
 
Gibb shot lights out, going 7 for 9 from the field and 3 for 5 from three-point range to turn in his fourth 20-point game of the season. He and Mikey Hinkle pulled down five rebounds apiece.

"Reece and Alex were exceptional tonight," Rosenberg said. "When they're getting offensive rebounds for putbacks, we're a much better team. I felt like the seniors weren't going to let us lose tonight and the team followed."
 
The home team's hot three-point shooting was on display once again as the Bearcats sunk 13 of 30 from beyond the arc for a 43.3 percentage. But Linfield outrebounded Willamette 47-31 and scored 44 points in the paint. The Wildcats made more than half their shots in each half, shooting 54.1 percent on the night.
 
Jake Downing scored eight points while Hinkle and Jack Stallard each finished with six. Downing and Stallard both made two shots from deep.
 
The Wildcats took advantage of a 32.4 percent shooting performance from the Bearcats to go into halftime with an 11-point lead. The Bearcats caught fire from three in the second half, but the Wildcats tacked on 48 second-half points to run away with the game.
 
Josiah Frank went 7 for 16 from the field and 2 for 4 from three-point range to lead Willamette with 18 points. Ryder Hsiung racked up 17 points with five threes while Levi Basurto made all four of his attempts for 10 points. The team's leading scorer, Jack Boydell was held to nine points.

"They guys did a good job on Boydell tonight. He lit us up the last time we played them."
 
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Linfield (9-11, 6-5 NWC) will roll into the weekend with a winning NWC record and a half game back of Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark for third place. The Wildcats have rattled off four straight victories against conference opponents. The only blemish in their current five-game stretch was an eight-point non-conference loss to Illinois Wesleyan on Jan. 23.
 
The Wildcats are back on the road on Saturday to take on the Pacific Lutheran Lutes (10-9, 4-6 NWC), who they beat back on Jan. 6 on a game-winning banked three-pointer by TreyVaughn Bierlink with less than three seconds left in regulation. Tipoff with the Lutes is set for 6 p.m. at Olson Gymnasium.

"We have a tough schedule ahead in the next three weeks, but our kids are fired up for the challenge." Read Full Article