Whitworth pirated playoff ambitions

Elijah O'Bryant, Staff Writer

The Wildcats have sadly tapped out early during the men’s basketball Northwest Conference Tournament. The team came home from their game against Whitworth in Spokane with a score of 88-69.

“It was if we were punched in the mouth and just couldn’t recover fast enough,” sophomore Sandor Rodriguez said about the loss of the game. 

“One thing about them was that they have a lot of seniors, and they played with all the emotions of one too.”

The first three minutes began rocky for Linfield with the first two-points being made by Whitworth, followed by a missed jump shot from the Wildcats.  

By the time the Wildcats had made their first layup, courtesy of sophomore Dempsey Roggenbuck, the Pirates were well ahead of the Wildcats, 11-2.

The Pirates continued their domination throughout the rest of the first half, having their lead over the Wildcats grow 21-4 in four minutes.

The first half of the game ended with the Wildcats in a painful spot with the Pirates having nearly scored double of what they had, 52-27. 

The second half was only slightly kinder to the Wildcats. The Pirates rushed out of the gate with an immediate three-pointer. Following the play, the game became a steady back and forth competition between the Pirates and the Wildcats. 

With seven minutes left in the game, the Wildcats, slowly but surely, began to chip away at the 22-point lead. 

However, it was too little too late. The last point was made by Whitman, with nothing but fouls and missed shots from both teams immediately after.

This game is a stark contrast to the previous time the Wildcats played Whitworth, a little over two weeks ago, where they stayed much closer to the Pirates. That game began with a lead over Whitworth before an eventual resurgence by them made the final score 74-73.

Despite the disappointing finish, Rodriguez is optimistic about the season next year “We have some guys leaving, but we have a lot returning, so we’ve got a lot of experience coming in now, so we’re ready.”