Traveling overseas, one Linfield alumnus has pushed his way into professional basketball.

After working hard at  Linfield, Erik Olson, class of ‘09, ventured to Scotland, where he began his professional career.

After transferring to Linfield as a junior, the physical education major began to play for the Wildcats.

“[Olson] had a strong work ethic during his playing days at Linfield,” Linfield basketball coach Larry Doty said. “He was a very good shooter when he transferred here as a junior and then worked hard in the off-season to transform himself from a 3-point shooter to a player who could get to the rim, the foul line and rebound.”

After college, Olson’s journey to the professional league had a rocky beginning before he was offered an opportunity in Falkirk, Scotland.

After playing in Scotland, Olson had an off-season, where he attended try-outs and training camps before being signed to play in Australia.

“I am now entering my third season of professional basketball, and I also serve as head coach of both the top club team, Wagga Wagga Heat, and the under-18 development team,” Olson said.

In starting his coaching career, Olson hopes to have a long career of coaching.

“I do not have the interest to move about forever and I will hopefully be able to get into college athletics,” Olson said. “I would like to coach at a liberal arts college or overseas at the professional level where I would love to get involved in countries like Norway, Sweden and Iceland, which all have great basketball leagues and friendly cultures.”

Olson’s growing interest in basketball stemmed from his early exposure to the sport.

His father’s college-level coaching career of more than 20 years, most recently at Dartmouth College, has greatly influenced Olson’s desire to coach.

“Being raised in a coach’s household, I was truly around the game from the time I can remember,” Olson said. “Being around practices, players and coaches from the time I can remember has helped me succeed as a player and a coach as I have witnessed so many different situations and how they were handled.”

Olson’s dedication to the game is purely based on his love for the sport.

“[My motivation] simply the fact that I can continue to play the game I love at a high level,” Olson said. “I am hopeful to continue to have these experiences and playing contacts, and that requires a lot of hard work and preparation. It is easy to find motivation when you are playing the sport you love and have always had as a constant in your life.”

While Olson’s love for the game is evident to those all around, it is clear that his future will continue to have basketball in it.

“Erik loved basketball. He loved being in the gym [and he] loved spending hours working on his game. By the time he left Linfield, he was one of the best percentage shooters in the conference from the field and the foul line,” Doty said. “He made great strides in his game from being pretty much just a 3-point shooter to someone who could get to the rim, put the ball on the floor and score the medium range jumper and both those things put got him to the foul line where he was one of the top free throw shooters in the NWC.”

In coming so far from his college basketball career, Olson has not forgotten all the hard work that has led him to where he is now.

“Linfield played such a large role in my development that without my time there, I am confident I would not be playing internationally,” Olson said.

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Kaylyn Peterson/Sports editor
Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

With the final buzzers going off, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams ended their seasons.

In the final game against the University of Puget Sound, the women’s team met its downfall in a final score of 75-61.

Following the women’s final game, the men’s team also played its final game, in which it lost 80-67.

The teams’ records were less than what the teams wanted, but they still look at the season as a success.

“The season went well,” freshman Alex Christensen said. “We had two great seniors who led us throughout the season. Although we didn’t have as many wins as we would have liked to, it was a year for growth, and I think all of us showed growth on the basketball court and grew together as a team.”

The women’s Northwest Conference record was four wins and 12 losses. The men’s NWC record was three wins and 13 losses.

“The main challenge that we faced was being such a young team,” Christensen said. “Playing against teams that play mostly juniors and seniors, when most of our team was freshmen, made it difficult. We had to learn quickly and grow up fast, but it means that the next few years we will improve.”

Although the teams didn’t win many games, they said the team overcame some big challenges.

“We only had three upperclassmen, which was a challenge,” senior Brynna Fuller said. “It is tough to adjust to the speed of the college game and learn the ropes of the program, but our freshmen did a good job. We also had a few injuries throughout the season that made things more difficult.”

The team did its best to work around the challenge of the large number of new players.

“We improved greatly from the beginning to the end of the season,” Fuller said. “We worked well together as a group and had a lot of team chemistry. We also had a few people step up when we needed them, which was great to see.”

The two teams knew never to give up during their games, which helped them keep a positive outlook on the season.

“We were a team that gave everything we had,” freshman Lauren Sheppard said. “We never lost on a lack of effort. As a team, we became close friends on and off the court. We were able to make great strides in progressing our program.”

Both teams look forward to next season with the hopes that their growth continues.

“Since we have so many underclassmen, we will just keep improving and be able to win some of the close games we had,” Christensen said.
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Kaylyn Peterson/Sports editor
Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

The Wildcats fell to the University of Puget Sound during the last game of the season. The men’s basketball team fought to keep up with the Loggers but ended the season with a halt when the Loggers pulled ahead in the second half during its home game Feb. 18.

The game started off with sophomore Cory Hendryx taking the lead by sinking two free throws in the first 30 seconds of the game.

However, the game quickly changed when the Loggers took the lead in the first half and doubled the Wildcats in the first 10 minutes.

Keeping up the fight, the Wildcats worked their way back into contention, ending the first half in a tie of 35-35.

Starting the second half, the Loggers lost no time getting ahead. The Wildcats struggled to keep up, losing 87 to 67.

The Wildcats made 45 of 100 shots, while the Loggers made 56 of 103 shots.

In previous action, on Feb. 17, the Wildcats competed against the George Fox University Bruins in Newberg, Ore. They took an early lead, setting the pace during the first half. The team racked up the points early, ending the first half with a score of 33-18.

Continuing on with the second half, the Wildcats did not slow down. They scored shot after shot, doubling their points from the second half by the end of the game, winning 61-37.

The team ended the season with a record of five wins and 19 losses.

“I feel this season did not go as anyone wanted it to,” freshman Chris Dirks said in an email. “We definitely had our ups like our game on the road against George Fox and our home game against Willamette. But overall I think we all wanted better results.”

Reflecting on the season, the team faced some challenges, but worked to overcome them.

“Our team faced a fair share of challenges this year, from players quitting to a coach quitting,” Dirks said. “On top of that, we had a lot of injuries. The worst was our road game against Pacific  University because [Zach Meikle], David Lee, and Andrew Batiuk were all hurt. David Lee also missed a lot of our games which hurt a lot, and once he returned, we started playing much better.”

The team will lose two seniors, Anderson and Lee, two major scorers for the team.

Dirks describes the seniors as “[the] players that stood out the most. [They] both had amazing seasons,” Dirks said.

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Kaylyn Peterson/Sports editor
Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Senior Brynna Fuller passes the ball to freshman Alex Owen during the third quarter against the University of Puget Sound on Feb. 18 at home. Kaylyn Peterson/ Sports editor

As the season comes to a close, seniors Gretchen Owens and Brynna Fuller finished strong with Owens scoring 22 points and Fuller making all six of her free throw shots during the game against the University of Puget Sound on Feb. 18.

During the first half of the game, the lead went back and forth between both teams.

By intermission, the Loggers had a four-point lead with the score at 37-33.

During the second half, the game changed as many more shots were missed, which allowed the Loggers to maintain their lead throughout the rest of the game.

Players fought to try to catch up with the closest being at 11:22, then Owens made a shot and only gave the Loggers a three-point lead.

Freshman Katelyn Henson scored 12 points and had six rebounds.

With the statistics of this season, Henson should have a strong season next year.

Sophomore Kaely Maltman also spotlighted during the game with 12 points and three rebounds.

Freshman Tyra Barawis was out with a broken foot
for most of the season and plans on coming back strong next year.

Throughout the game, there were many shots taken but few were actually made.

Missed shots allowed the Loggers to gain a lead over the Wildcats.

The game ended with a win for the Loggers.

The Wildcats played the George Fox Bruins on Feb. 17, who just gained their fifth conference title.

With the Bruins having an undefeated season, the Wildcats had their work cut out for them.

Owens scored 20 points with Henson following behind with 12 points.

Within the first few minutes, it seemed that the Wildcats were starting off strong, fighting to end the Bruin’s undefeated season.

The Wildcats lost steam after tying the game at 9:16 with a score of 18-18.

The game changed as the Bruin’s took charge of the court and made a great lead for the team.

The first half ended with the Bruins leading 43-27.

The Bruins kept their lead throughout the second half and kept their streak with their win of 66-52.

Henson had three blocks and five rebounds.

Junior Nicole Barton helped with her two blocks made in the first half of the game.

The team plans on hosting optional practices so that players can still keep improving and those who were injured have the chance to practice with the team again.

Next season’s team will have to recover from losing its leading scorer who averaged 19 points per game.

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Ivanna Tucker/Features editor
Ivanna Tucker can be reached at linfieldreviewfeatures@gmail.com.

Senior Zach Anderson struggles to find a teammate to pass to against Pacific Lutheran University Dec. 3 at home. Joel Ray/ Photo editor

The Linfield men’s basketball team battled to the end in its home conference game of the season against Pacific Lutheran, scoring two three-pointers in the last minute of the game.

The Wildcats lost the game 68-76 Dec. 3.

While they may have lost, they certainly didn’t lose without a fight. In the last 10 minutes of the game, the Wildcats scored 10 points, bringing the score from 58-76 to 68-76.

“Our goals for the season are to get into the playoffs. We have to finish in the top four spots,” said Larry Doty, the men’s basketball head coach.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Pacific won the game 76-67.

“We didn’t make free-throws and didn’t make stops at crucial points in the game,” said freshman Andrew
Batiuk.

The game started out in the Wildcat’s favor, with junior Dakotah Pine scoring a two-pointer and a three-pointer early in the game.

Both teams looked evenly matched after the first half, with Linfield just barely ahead of Pacific by two points.

“There is good chemistry,” Doty said, about how well the team works together.

The second half didn’t go as well as the first for the Wildcats. The score was close for most of the game, as neither team let the other get too far ahead.

Pacific however, started to pull away in the last four minutes of the game. In the last minute alone, Pacific players Charles Moreley and Coby Proctor scored 10 points off of foul shots alone.

“If you can make more free-throws than the other team attempts, you win 90 percent of your games,” Doty said.

While the Nov. 29 game was the first conference game, it was not the team’s first game. The men’s basketball team has already played four games this season.

The Wildcats played against Northwest University in Kirkland, Wash., on Nov. 25.

Unfortunately, junior Zach Meikle and Batiuk sprained their ankles in this game. The Wildcats scored 41 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to catch up to Northwest.

Northwest came out with the victory, winning 83-63.

The Wildcats played against NCAA Division I team, the Portland State University Vikings on Nov. 21.

“Our guys look forward to the challenge,” Doty said.

“It’s fun to play against D1 teams,” Batiuk said.

PSU won 101-64.

The Wildcats had their first win of the season against Concordia on Nov. 19 at their home court. Some good shots and rebounds helped the Wildcats to pull ahead of Concordia in the first half of the game and win 47-33.

Linfield held its lead throughout the second half, leaving the Wildcats victorious with a score of 88-72.

The men played their first game of the season against Corban on November 19 at Linfield.

The game was close, but Corban barely edged out Linfield for the win, with a score of 71-68.

The game was a battle until the end. Corban pulled ahead of Linfield with two two-pointer shots in the last minute of the game.

The Wildcats play Multnomah on their home court Dec. 5.

Currently, the team has a lot of players out with injuries, including front line players. Doty said he hopes to have his players healthy by January, when the next conference games happen.

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Meghan O’Rourke/Opinion editor
Meghan O’Rourke can be reached at linfieldreviewopinion@gmail.com.