McMinnville, Ore.| The Warner Pacific University Men's Basketball team (8-5, 4-1) dropped their final non-conference game of the 2021-22 season at NCAA DIII Linfield University (7-3, 2-0), thus turning their attention to the remainder of conference play later this week.

Linfield came out shooting hot in the first half, with a 66.7% field goal percentage from the court with under 13 minutes to go in the first half. The Wildcats jumped out to a quick 18-12 lead, forcing Knights' Head Coach Jamayne Potts to call his first timeout of the game.

With little answers from Warner Pacific, Linfield continued to force the issue, taking shot after shot from beyond the arc to stretch the lead to double digits at 24-14 with nine and a half minutes remaining before halftime.

However, the Knights would battle back and tie this game at 28 apiece with under five minutes to go, scoring seven straight points and forcing three turnovers with no field goals made for Linfield in the final seven minutes going into the halftime break. The Wildcats would score one additional point off a free throw, but Warner Pacific held the 30-29 edge after the first 20 minutes of action.

Despite an ugly start, WPU settled in to outscore Linfield 16-5 in the final 10 minutes of the first half, and held a 14-11 rebounding advantage in spite of losing the turnover battle 10-6. The Wildcats were unable to capitalize on those 10 Knights' turnovers, scoring just four points off the Warner Pacific miscues.

Coming out of the halftime pause, Linfield continued to shoot the 3-ball despite growing cold in the first half in order to keep them in this contest, as back-to-back three-pointers from Wildcats' Dempsey Roggenbuck tied the game at 39 with under 15 minutes remaining.

The Knights and Wildcats would continue to battle through the second half, as Linfield would hold a slight 54-52 lead with just 10 minutes to go in the game.

With neither team willing to bend, Knights' junior guard Thomas Miles hit a critical and-1 layup to break the tie and put Warner Pacific ahead 64-61 after the made free throw. Miles had 13 points off the bench for the Knights, scoring when they needed a bucket the most to keep them in this non-conference contest.

Turnovers and poor shot selection would prove to be the Knights' cause for downfall in the final two minutes of play, as they managed to hit just 3 of 10 field goals to round out the second half, while the Wildcats were able to convert on crucial conversion opportunities and free throws to keep Warner Pacific just out of reach.

Warner Pacific's senior guard Isaac Etter continues to lead the Knights in scoring with 19 points tonight, shooting 50% from beyond the three-point stripe. Miles added a team-high seven rebounds for WPU, along with a pair of assists.

Wildcats' Roggenbuck turned in a stellar performance for the Wildcats, scoring 34 points in his return from injury to lead all players in scoring. Roggenbucks' teammate Trey Bryant added 11 points and six rebounds for Linfield, as well as a pair of steals and assists.

The Knights will return to the hardwood this upcoming Friday, December 31^st, on New Year's Eve when they travel to restart conference play against the Lewis-Clark State Warriors in Lewiston, Idaho. That game is slated to start earlier than normal for a Friday conference contest to adjust for the holiday, with tipoff set for 5pm PST following the conclusion of the Warner Pacific Women's Basketball team's bout with the LC-State women's team.