WHAT’S BRUIN: Weekly News & Notes

Overall Record: 4-10 (Home 2-4, Road 1-5, Neutral 1-1)
Northwest Conference: 0-5, 9th (Home 0-2, Road 0-3)

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Quick Facts / Roster / Schedule / Results / Statistics / Box Scores / Press Releases

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Coming Up: Bruins to Host Yamhill County Rival Linfield Saturday

* Recent Games: Bruins Fall in Three Conference Games During Week

* Stockner BAA Athlete of the Week, HM for NWC Honors

* NCAA Stats: Stockner Joins National Leaders in Field Goal Pct.

* NWC Stats: Stockner Climbs to 2nd in Field Goal Pct.
* The Wirta Watch: “Biggs” Adds Three More Games to List of Streaks

* RECENT GAMES (0-3): Bruins Fall in Three Conference Games During Week

Jan. 9 - at Lewis & Clark 97, George Fox 83

Jan. 10 - #17 Puget Sound 87, George Fox 60

Jan. 13 - Pacific 76, at George Fox 66

It was a tough week for the Bruins as they dropped all three of their Northwest Conference games, including the first two they had played at home.  At Lewis & Clark, the Bruins held a slim one-point halftime lead but saw it disappear quickly against the red-hot Pioneers, who shot 63% in the second half.  Jack Martin led the Bruins with 23 points.  Against 17th-ranked Puget Sound in their NWC home opener, the Bruins fell behind by double digits early and never could catch up.  Alex Stockner had 16 points and Grant Vahalla had a career-high 14 in the loss to the Loggers.  In the Pacific game, Stockner and Bryan O’Connell each had 16 points, O’Connell connecting on 8-10 from the field, but it was not enough to counter a balanced Boxer attack that saw five players score in double figures.

* COMING UP:  Bruins to Host Yamhill County Rival Linfield Saturday

Sat, Jan. 17, 8:00 pm - vs. Linfield College, in Newberg, Ore.

Yamhill County rival Linfield comes to Newberg Saturday as the Bruins face another strong challenge in their bid for that elusive first Northwest Conference win of the season.  The Wildcats won only two of their first 10 games, but beat Whitman and nationally-ranked Whitworth in their last two conference games as their season appears to be turning around.  The game is an NWC doubleheader, with the women’s game preceding the men’s game at 6:00 p.m.  Campus station KFOX Radio will webcast the games, and George Fox will provide both LiveStats and live video streaming of the game as well.  Links to George Fox multimedia coverage when provided:

KFOX radio webcasts - http://www.georgefox.edu/offices/asc/kfoxradio/

LiveStats - http://academic.georgefox.edu/~sports/xlive.htm

Live video streaming - http://media.georgefox.edu/bruinsports.html

Linfield (4-9, NWC 2-2, 5th T): The Linfield Wildcats from McMinnville, Ore., were picked 6th in the Northwest Conference pre-season coaches’ poll, the Bruins 9th … The Wildcats dropped their last game Tuesday at Division I Seattle 85-40 … Series record: George Fox leads 40-38 since 1971 (22-15 home, 18-22 road, 0-1 neutral) … The teams split last year, the Wildcats winning 68-65 in McMinnville on Jan. 12 and the Bruins winning 55-51 in Newberg on Feb. 9 at Homecoming … Linfield averages 71.1 ppg (8th in the NWC) and allows 75.2 ppg (4th) … The Wildcats have two double-figure scorers: K.C. Wiser (17.0, 5th), Erik Olson (13.8, 15th) … Wiser is the top rebounder (5.8, 9th) … Jon Weber is the assists leader (3.23, 7th) … Olson is the NWC Leader in free throw pct. (.881, 35th nationally) … Linfield is 43rd nationally in assists (15.9 apg) … Coach Larry Doty is 292-272 to date in his 22nd season at Linfield … The Wildcats host Lewis & Clark Friday before meeting the Bruins … Next game: Jan. 10 vs. Pacific, 8:00 p.m.

COACH MARK SUNDQUIST:

Mark Sundquist (Seattle Pacific '89) is 86-127 (.404) to date in his ninth season as a college head coach, all at George Fox. He was the NWC Coach of the Year in 2004-05 for leading the Bruins to an 18-7 record and 2nd place in the conference. Click here for the complete bio on Coach Sundquist.

Sundquist vs. upcoming opponents
Linfield - 6-11 (4-4 home, 2-6 road, 0-1 neutral)

BRUIN BITS:

* Stockner BAA Athlete of the Week, HM for NWC Honors

Junior post Alex Stockner has been named the Bruin Athletic Association Men’s Athlete of the Week for Jan. 5-11 and received honorable mention for the Northwest Conference Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week.  In a 97-83 loss at Lewis & Clark on Jan. 9, he scored 16 points on 7-8 field goals and 2-3 free throws, with 2 rebounds and 2 assists.  In an 87-60 loss to #17 Puget Sound, he scored 16 points on 6-15 field goals (2-4 on threes) and 2-5 free throws, with 8 rebounds and 2 steals.  In two games, he scored 32 points (16.0 ppg) on 13-23 field goals (.565), including 2-4 three-pointers (.500), and 4-8 free throws (.500), with 10 rebounds (5.0 rpg), 2 assists and 2 steals.  He has been the BAA Athlete of the Week and honorable mention for NWC Student-Athlete of the Week three times this season.  Stockner is 3rd in the NWC in field goal pct. (.575), 12th in scoring (14.1), rebounding (5.3), and ranks 40th nationally in field goal pct. (.583) …

* 2008-09 Honors:

Evan Atwater ---
- Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week (Nov. 17-23; Dec. 29-Jan. 4)
- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week (HM, Nov. 17-23; HM, Dec. 15-Jan. 4)

Jack Martin ---
- Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week (Nov. 24-30)
- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week (HM, Nov. 24-30)

Alex Stockner ---
- Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week (Dec. 1-7; Dec. 8-14; Jan. 5-11)
- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week (HM, Dec. 1-7; HM, Dec. 8-14; HM, Jan. 5-11)

* NCAA Stats: Stockner Joins National Leaders in Field Goal Pct.

In the latest NCAA national statistics (thru Jan. 11), Jack Martin was 28th in assists (5.7) … Alex Stockner was 40th in field goal pct. (.583) …  

* NWC Stats: Stockner Climbs to 2nd in Field Goal Pct.

Where the Bruins rank in the latest Northwest Conference stats (thru Jan. 11):
Scoring Offense – 9th (70.9)
Scoring Defense – 7th (78.9)
Scoring Margin – 9th (-8.1)
Field Goal Pct. - 6th (.442)
Field Goal Pct. Defense – 5th (.460)
3-Pt Field Goals – 6th (6.79)
3-Pt Field Goal Pct. – 9th (.299)
3-Pt Field Goal Pct. Defense – 9th (.399)
Free Throw Pct. – 8th (.657)
Rebounding Offense – 5th (37.1)
Rebounding Defense - 5th (36.6)
Rebounding Margin – 6th (+0.5)
Assists – 4th (15.71)
Blocked Shots - 8th (1.36)
Steals – 8th (4.93)
Turnover Margin – 9th (-4.21)
Assist/Turnover Ratio – 5th (0.95)

- Jack Martin is 2nd in assists (5.86), 3rd in 3-pt field goals (2.64), 6th in assist/turnover ratio (1.64), 10th in steals (1.36), 15th in 3-pt pct. (.378), 17th in scoring (13.1) …
- Evan Atwater is 10th in 3-pt field goals (1.86), 13th in free throw pct. (.750, T), 16th in scoring (13.4) ...

- Alex Stockner is 3rd in field goal pct. (.575), 12th in scoring (14.1), rebounding (5.3) …
- Travis Toedtemeier is 14th in rebounding (5.0) ...
- Bryan O’Connell is 16th in rebounding (4.6) …

* The Wirta Watch: “Biggs” Adds Three More Games to List of Streaks

Mike "Biggs" Wirta, who has been charting basketball statistics for the George Fox men's team since the 1970-71 season while he was an undergraduate student, continues to add to his incredible streaks of attendance at GFU men’s games.  With the Bruins’ three games this past week, he has now seen 653 straight games, home and away.  He has worked 455 straight men’s home games, not missing a one at home since 1972 when he was in military service. In all, he has seen over half of all games ever played by the George Fox men’s team (1,065 of 2,092 for 50.9%) in the 105 years of Bruin basketball.