SPOKANE, Wash. – Visiting Whitworth rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to pull within two points in the final two minutes, but could not complete the comeback in a 71-65 setback at Linfield in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game on Friday night.
The 14th-ranked Pirates fall to 16-3 overall and 9-2 in the NWC, while the Wildcats improve to 14-5, 9-2 and move back into a first place tie in the league standings with Whitworth and PLU (14-6, 9-2).
The Pirates never led as Linfield jumped out to a 10-2 lead following a three-pointer by Dempsey Roggenbuck and a jumper by Max Lommen. Whitworth got back within 15-12 on Rowan Anderson's three-pointer, but Linfield got the next two buckets. Lommen's three-pointer extended the margin to 29-16. Jojo Anderson made one of two free throws with 51 seconds left in the half to get the Pirates back within 34-24, but Trey Bryant hit a three-pointer and Roggenbuck scored off a steal, allowing Linfield to take a 39-24 lead into halftime. The Wildcats shot 53.3% (16-30) in the first half, while Whitworth made only 33.3% (9-27) from the floor and turned the ball over 11 times.
Linfield's lead remained double-digits for the first ten minutes of the second half, until Jerry Twenge hit a three-pointer to pull the Bucs within 59-50 with 9:10 to go. The Wildcats retook a 63-50 lead before Whitworth used a 7-0 run, capped by Rowan Anderson's driving layup, to pull within 63-57. Linfield went back up 67-57 with 3:50 left, but the Pirates rallied again with an 8-0 spurt, including three-pointers by Garrett Paxton and Rowan Anderson, to get within 67-65 with 1:42 left. Unfortunately for the Pirates their rally ended there and they didn't score again, despite having an opportunity to tie or take the lead on their next two possessions. Roggenbuck and Aaron Baune combined to go 4-4 at the free throw line in the final 20 seconds to secure the win.
Rowan Anderson scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half to spark Whitworth's comeback attempt. Twenge added 15 and Paxton scored 12. Miguel Lopez led the Bucs with ten rebounds and Whitworth finished with a 37-32 edge on the boards. The Pirates' shooting improved slightly in the second half and Whitworth finished the game 24-60 (40%) from the floor, 12-29 (41.4%) from three-point range.
Roggenbuck had 23 points for Linfield, while Lommen scored 12 and Baune had 11. The Wildcats made 27-56 (48.2%) from the field in the game, 6-21 (28.6%) from beyond the arc.
Whitworth completes its trip to Oregon with a game at Pacific University on Saturday night.
