KIRKLAND – Northwest overcame an eight-point halftime deficit and opened the season with a 77-73 win over Linfield Saturday.
The Eagles held Linfield’s high-octane offense to 26 second-half points and preseason All-American Dempsey Roggenbuck to 11 points. The Wildcats are preseason favorites in the Northwest Conference.
“That’s a big, big win,” said NU Head Coach Jeff Drinkwine. “They typically score in the 100s, so holding them to 73 is a testament to the hard work our guys put in. Linfield has a very efficient offense, and they are hard to defend. We got in a little foul trouble, but the guys who came off the bench did great.”
Freshman Connor Drinkwine led the Eagles with 30 points in his NU debut. CaCoa Chatman had 16.
Linfield led by as many as 12 points in the first half and still had a 47-39 edge at halftime.
Roggenbuck delivered a 10-point lead, 49-39, three minutes into the second half, but the Eagles began methodically whittling off the deficit. Tanner Davis hit Connor Drinkwine, who drilled a three-pointer for a 60-58 lead with 9:46 remaining.
While the Eagles couldn't shake Linfield completely, they never trailed in the last nine minutes. Connor Drinkwine and Daniel Sharpe added baskets to answer Wildcat challenges late, and Davis iced the game with a free throw with two seconds left.
The 30-point outing by Connor Drinkwine was the first by an Eagle since Hussayn Ford scored 34 against Warner Pacific in 2019.
“That was a proud dad and proud coach moment,” said Coach Drinkwine. “I honestly didn’t know he had that many points.”
NU had a 41-38 advantage in rebounding, led by Davis with nine and Sharpe with six. Davis also led with six assists, with Chatman adding five.
The Eagles travel to Great Falls, Montana, next weekend to take on Montana State-Northern and Providence.