SPOKANE, Wash. – The Linfield men's basketball team lost 79-66 Friday night to the Whitworth Pirates in Whitworth Fieldhouse.
A red-hot second half for Whitworth (15-9, 10-5) in which Linfield (10-14, 7-8) went cold from three led to the Pirates victory despite a back-and-forth start to the game and strong defensive stretches for Linfield.
"We showed some good moments tonight on defense and we did a good job with turnovers in the second half but shot way too poorly to have a chance tonight," said head coach
Shanan Rosenberg.
The two teams traded baskets through the opening minutes before a 14-0 Whitworth run gave the Pirates their first double-digit lead of the game.
Linfield battled back to draw within three points twice during the half, but eventually found itself down nine at halftime.
The Wildcats struck first after halftime with an
Alex Jaczko jumper but could not draw closer than six points for the rest of the game thanks to 64 percent shooting from the field and 66.7 percent shooting from three for the Pirates in the second half.
"Give Whitworth credit, they played very well and made a number of tough shots," said Rosenberg. "Got to leave this behind us because with a win tomorrow we are still alive for a playoff spot."
The loss moved Linfield into a three-way tie for fourth place in the Northwest Conference with Lewis and Clark and George Fox.
Linfield can clinch fourth place outright with a win tomorrow at Whitman regardless of outcomes in Lewis and Clark and George Fox's games due to tiebreaker scenarios.
The Wildcats shot 42.4 percent for the game against the Pirates and 25.9 percent from three while Whitworth shot 53.5 percent and 37.9 percent from three.
Whitworth ended up winning the rebounding battle 35 to 29, and although both teams pulled down seven offensive rebounds, Whitworth outscored Linfield in second-chance points 13-8.
Linfield also won the turnover battle by two, but were a point behind in points off turnovers, Whitworth with 17 and Linfield with 16.
Jaczko led the Wildcats in scoring with 12 points on 4 for 11 shooting.
Trey Bryant followed with eight points.
The Pirates were led by 20 points from Michael Smith, with Rowan Anderson and Jerry Twenge also reaching double-figures.
NEXT
Linfield ends the regular season tomorrow night in Walla Walla against the Whitman Blues (13-2, 20-4), who have already clinched the NWC Regular Season Championship.
Tip-off is set for 6:00 in Walla Walla. A win guarantees the Wildcats a trip to the NWC Tournament, which will be held in Walla Walla starting Thursday, Feb. 23.