SALEM, Ore. – D'Ante Dean tied a career-high with 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field, as Willamette University's men's basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak with a convincing 80-62 victory over Northwest Conference rival Linfield University Friday evening inside Cone Field House.

With tonight's win, Willamette improves to 9-12 overall and 3-10 in NWC contests. Meanwhile, Linfield drops its fifth straight game falling to 7-15 overall and 4-9 in conference games.

Along with Dean, two other Bearcats – Kai Brown and Josiah Frank – also scored in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. On the boards, Dean and Anujan Tennathur pulled down a game-high seven rebounds each for Willamette to go along with a game-high five assists by Brown.

Over the opening 15-plus minutes, it was a back-and-forth contest with neither team gaining more than a three-point lead. With 4:45 on the clock, the host Bearcats scored eight unanswered points en route to securing a 34-26 lead on a Dean second chance bucket in the paint. Willamette would increase its lead to as much as nine points (38-29) with under a minute to play before Linfield scored the final points of the first half resulting in a 38-31 advantage for the home team at halftime.

The second half started with Willamette slowly pushing its leads to double digits grabbing a 15-point lead (64-49) with just under 11 minutes left on another Dean second chance lay-in. The host Bearcats would push their lead to as much as 22 points (80-58) on a fast-break lay-in by Kahiau Bruhn with 2:43 remaining in the game. After the benches were emptied, Linfield scored the final four points of the game ending in the final difference of 18 points (80-62).

For Linfield, two different Wildcats – Jack Greenwood and Cade Collins – led the team in scoring with 10 points each. Meanwhile, Collins grabbed a team-best six rebounds to go along with three assists each by Greenwood and Dayton Magana.

As a team, Willamette was a combined 33-for-71 (46.5%) from the field that included a 4-for-22 (18.2%) showing from behind the three-point line. At the free throw line, the host Bearcats were a combined 10-for-13 (76.9%). On the other hand, Linfield was a combined 26-for-60 (43.3%) from the field, 4-for-14 (28.6%) from long distance, and 6-for-11 (54.5%) at the charity stripe.

Willamette returns to the hardwood tomorrow – Saturday, February 15 – against the Lutes of Pacific Lutheran University starting at 4:00 PM in Tacoma, Washington.