SPOKANE, Wash. – Posting its most dominant half in recent memory, Whitworth University rolled to a 90-43 win over visiting Linfield University, knocking the Wildcats out of sole possession of first place in the Northwest Conference men's basketball standings on Tuesday night.
The 18th-ranked Pirates (12-2 overall, 5-1 NWC) outscored Linfield 41-15 in the second half, 30-2 over the first 13 minutes of the period. The Wildcats dropped to 9-4, 4-1 heading into Tuesday night's game at Whitman.
Max Lommen scored the first eight points of the game for Linfield, helping the Wildcats take an 8-7 lead. JT McDermott answered with a short jumper and Rowan Anderson followed with a three-pointer for the Pirates, who would never trail again. Jerry Twenge's jumper gave Whitworth its first double-digit lead (30-19) and Garrett Paxton drained a three-pointer later in the half to extend the margin to 44-24. The Pirates led 49-28 at the break after making 59% of their shots (20-34) in the period.
The first half was nothing compared to the second for Whitworth, who outscored Linfield 30-2 over the first 13 minutes. The Pirate defense forced the Wildcats to miss their first 15 shots, while outscoring the visitors 18-0 over the first eight minutes. After Linfield finally got on the board, Whitworth scored the next 12 points to open a 79-30 advantage with seven minutes left. The Wildcats made only 5 of 30 from the field and 2-12 from three-point range after halftime.
Jojo Anderson scored a career-high 19 points to lead Whitworth's balanced attack. McDermott scored all 12 of his points in the first half and led the Pirates with eight boards. Miguel Lopez also had a dozen points. Whitworth spread the scoring around to 11 different players. The Pirates finished the game 37-66 (56.1%) from the field and had a 45-28 edge in rebounding.
After Baune scored the first eight points for the Wildcats, he didn't score again, yet still led his team in points. Linfield finished the game 16-57 (28.1%) from the floor.
Whitworth will return to action on Wednesday night against Pacific University (5-9, 1-4) at 6:00 pm in the Fieldhouse.
