McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Cameron Mitchell and Ryan Meehan combined to score 52 points and Willamette picked apart a Linfield defense to the tune of a 105-93 victory over the Wildcats Saturday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.

The Bearcats, who came into the night in last place in the Northwest Conference, improve to 3-9 in the conference and 6-15 overall. Losing for the third time in four games, the Wildcats dropped to 10-10 overall and 8-4 in NWC play.

Willamette caught fire in the final minutes of the first half and never relinquished a comfortable lead the rest of the evening. Even when Linfield seemed to be clawing back into contention, the Bearcats swiftly turned away the Wildcats with flawless execution on the offensive end.

Linfield got off on the right foot in the early going, building a 17-12 lead on a Kris Rainwater (Sr., Seattle, Wash.) score at the 13:20 mark of the first half.

From there the Bearcats rolled off a 14-3 run, capped off by a three-point play by Bubba Lemon. The spurt gave Willamette a 26-20 advantage with 9:12 remaining in the stanza.

The big blow for the Wildcats came in the final minutes of the first half. Leading 36-31 with 2:40 on the clock, Willamette got back-to-back 3-pointers from Meehan and Taylor Mounts.

With time running out Meehan swished home a 3-pointer to put Willamette up 48-34 going into the break.

The ‘Cats struggled to take care of the ball, committing 10 turnovers in the first half. The ten miscues led to 15 Willamette points.

Staked to a 14-point halftime lead, Willamette continued to carve open Linfield’s defense in the second half. The Bearcats shot 74.1 percent in the stanza, making 20-of-27 shots, including 13-of-13 from the foul line.

A basket from Mitchell at the 14:05 mark put the Bearcats ahead 63-44. The Wildcats answered with a 16-5 spurt. Cody Tesoro (Sr., Kahului, Hawaii) buried a 3-pointer at the 10:06 mark to cap off the run.

With the lead trimmed to 68-60, the Bearcats were poised. The Wildcats would get no closer the rest of the way.

Even when Tesoro fired in another 3-pointer to cut the Willamette lead to 83-74 with 5:26 remaining, the Bearcats answered with scores of the offensive end.

Mitchell and Meehan answered with back-to-back scores to push the lead back to 13. With 3:32 left in the game, Meehan finished off the Wildcats with a 3-pointer to put Willamette ahead 97-80.

Mitchell finished the night making 12-of-17 shots while Meehan hit 9-of-12, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Taylor Mounts finished with 18 points.

The Bearcats made 11-of-16 attempts from beyond the arc.

The Wildcats shot 45.1 percent from the floor with Tesoro leading the way with a game-high 36 points on 12-of-24 shooting. Tesoro cashed in 8-of-12 attempts from three-point range. Rainwater, picking up the slack for an injured K.C. Wiser (Jr., Tigard, Ore.), recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

NEXT: Linfield returns to action Friday for a 6 p.m. road contest against Pacific.