MCMINNVILLE, Ore. --- Linfield men's basketball (1-1) earned their first win under head coach Elijah Gurash inside Ted Wilson Gymnasium, defeating the La Verne Leopards (1-2), 79-75. 
 
"I'm so proud of the team and the effort they put out on the court tonight." Said Gurash following the game. "They earned it!" 
 
La Verne scored the first basket of the game, hitting a three almost 90-seconds into the game. Nalu Vargas sank the next two buckets for Linfield, giving the 'Cats a 4-3 lead. Kohsuke Fujiwara and Dayton Magaña sparked a 10-4 run, taking advantage again at 14-9. 
 
The Leopards crawled back within one, but Vargas made two lay-ins, once again giving Linfield some breathing room. The lead stretched to 10, thanks to two threes from Magana. Linfield would never surrender the lead for the remainder of the game, with Chase Bennett executing an and-one to end the first half with the 'Cats leading 38-31.
 
The cut was cut to two in just the first minute, but Magana, Bennett, and Garrett Callsen teamed up to pull ahead yet again with the hot shooting from beyond the arc continuing. The offense continued to roll, with Callsen draining two layups to give Linfield their largest lead of the game thus far at 68-53 with less than 10-minutes to play.
 
Leading by as many as 16, La Verne was able to claw back with a 11-2 run, making it 77-70 Linfield with under two minutes to play. Callsen's fast-break lay-in gave the 'Cats a nine-point lead late, their last bucket of the game. Linfield would hold on despite a 5-0 run by La Verne to end the game at 79-75. 
 
Magaña led the team in scoring, dropping 24-points on 9-13 shooting, including sinking six shots from beyond the arc. The senior also grabbed three rebounds and dished a pair of assists. Vargas, Fujiwara, Bennett, and Callsen all had 10+ points, with Vargas leading the team with nine boards. Bennett had a team-high five assists. Linfield shot nearly 60% from the field, and just shy of 50% from beyond the arc, although going 4-12 from the stripe. 
 
The Wildcats are set to hit the road for four-straight games, heading to Portland to take on Warner Pacific on November 22 at 4 p.m.
 
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