WHAT’S BRUIN: Weekly News & Notes

Overall Record: 7-12 (Home 4-5, Road 2-6, Neutral 1-1)
Northwest Conference: 3-7, 6th T (Home 2-3, Road 1-4)

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

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Coming Up: Home vs. L&C, Then Two on the Road

* Recent Games: Bruins Split with Whits at Home

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

* Stockner Narrowly Misses Pair of Free Throw Records

* NCAA Stats: Bruins, Martin Nationally Ranked in Assists

* NWC Stats: Martin Takes Over League Lead in Assists

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

* COMING UP:  Home vs. L&C, Then Two on the Road

Fri., Feb. 6, 8:00 pm - vs. Lewis & Clark College, in Newberg, Ore.

Sat, Feb. 7, 8:00 pm - at University of Puget Sound, in Tacoma, Wash.

Tue., Feb. 10, 8:00 pm - at Pacific University, in Forest Grove, Ore.

Completing a three-game home stand, the Bruins host Lewis & Clark Friday, then hit the road for the first two of a three-game road swing Saturday at 7th-ranked Puget Sound and Tuesday at Pacific.  With six games left, the Bruins are two games out of the fourth and final spot in the Northwest Conference Tournament.  The university will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day by introducing all the George Fox senior women student-athletes and athletic training students at halftime of the men’s game with Lewis & Clark on Friday.  All three games coming up are doubleheaders, with the NWC women’s games preceding the men’s games at 6:00 p.m.

Campus station KFOX Radio will webcast all games this weekend, with live video streaming and LiveStats also available on the internet for the Lewis & Clark home game.  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

Lewis & Clark (13-6, NWC 7-3, 2nd T): The Lewis & Clark Pioneers from Portland, Ore., were picked to finish 5th in the Northwest Conference pre-season coaches’ poll, the Bruins 9th … The Pios won their last game 78-73 over Pacific Lutheran on Saturday … Series record: George Fox trails 20-37 since 1965 (10-14 home, 10-23 road) … The Pios have won the last five meetings, including a 97-83 win on Jan. 9 in Portland in their first meeting this season … The Bruins’ last win in the series was 71-62 in Newberg on Feb. 10, 2006 … Lewis & Clark averages 75.8 ppg (5th in the NWC) and allows 69.2 ppg (3rd) … The Pios lead the NWC in turnover margin (+7.58, 7th nationally) … L&C is also ranked nationally in turnovers per gme (11.1, 7th), assist/turnover ratio (1.13, 39th), and 3-pt field goals (8.00, 45th) … The Pios have four double-figure scorers: G Josh Kollasch (14.9, 10th), F Tyson Papenfuss (13.9, 14th), G  James Hollins (12.4, 18th), G David Berggren (11.4, 22nd) … Kollasch is the top rebounder (6.0, 9th) and assists leader (4.67, 4th) … Papenfuss is 41st nationally in field goal pct. (.578), and Kollasch is 21st in assist/turnover ratio (2.4) … Coach Bob Gaillard is 335-198 to date in his 20th season at Lewis & Clark, and 500-256 in his 28th season overall … Next game: Feb. 7 at Pacific, 8:00 p.m.

Puget Sound (18-2, NWC 11-0, 1st): The Puget Sound Loggers from Tacoma, Wash., were picked to finish 1st in the Northwest Conference pre-season coaches’ poll, the Bruins 9th … Puget Sound is ranked 7th in the latest D3hoops.com poll … With an 84-59 thrashing of Pacific Lutheran on Tuesday, the Loggers have won a record-tying 13 in a row … Series record: George Fox trails 11-25 since 1974 (6-9 home, 5-16 road) … The Loggers won this season’s first meeting 87-60 in Newberg on Jan. 10 … The Bruins won the meeting before that, stunning the 7th-ranked Loggers 78-77 in Tacoma on Feb. 2, 2008 … Puget Sound averages 87.2 ppg (1st in the NWC, 8th nationally) and allows 68.7 ppg (2nd) … The Loggers lead the NWC in scoring margin (+18.5, 4th nationally), blocked shots (3.40), steals (11.40, 19th nationally), 3-pt field goals (8.80, 22nd nationally), 3-pt pct. defense (.294, 37th nationally), and are 2nd in field goal pct. (.477), field goal pct. defense (.424), rebounding (38.8), turnover margin (+6.15, 11th nationally) … The Loggers have four double-figure scorers: F Jason Foster (15.6, 6th), F Robert Krauel (13.4, 15th), G Antwan Williams (12.5, 17th), F Austin Boyce (10.6, 26th) … Foster is the top rebounder (6.7, 6th) … Williams is the assists leader (5.50, 2nd, 31st nationally), and leads the NWC in steals (2.55, 31st nationally) … Foster leads the NWC in blocked shots (1.90, 29th nationally) … Krauel is 41st nationally in field goal pct. (.578) … Coach Justin Lunt is 55-16 to date in his 3rd season at Puget Sound … Next game: Feb. 13 vs. Whitworth, 8:00 p.m.

Pacific (8-10, NWC 3-7, 6th T): The Pacific Boxers from Forest Grove, Ore., were picked to finish 4th in the Northwest Conference pre-season coaches’ poll, the Bruins 9th … The Boxers have dropped their last two games, including an 83-74 setback to Whitworth Saturday … Series record: George Fox trails 36-42 since 1966 (24-14 home, 12-28 road) … The Boxers have won the last three meetings, including a 76-66 win on Jan. 13 in Newberg in this season’s first meeting … The Bruins’ last win in the series was 68-59 in Newberg on Feb. 8, 2007 … Pacific averages 73.9 ppg (7th in the NWC) and allows 76.6 ppg (6th) … The Boxers are 35th nationally in 3-pt pct. (.388, 2nd in the NWC) … The Boxers have two double-figure scorers: F Garold Howe (17.9, 2nd), G Micah Mooney (10.0, 29th) … Howe is the top rebounder (7.4, 3rd) … G A.J. Gaulton is the assists leader (3.00, 9th), and leads the NWC in free throw pct. (.865, 44th nationally) … Coach Jason Lowery is 41-52 to date in his 4th season at Pacific, and 61-96 in his 6th season overall … The Boxers visit Pacific Lutheran Friday and host Lewis & Clark Saturday before meeting the Bruins .. Next game: Feb. 13 at Willamette, 8:00 p.m.

* RECENT GAMES (1-1): Bruins Split with Whits at Home

Jan. 30 - Whitworth 83, at George Fox 67

Jan. 31 - at George Fox 77, Whitman 71

The Bruins began the second half of Northwest Conference play by splitting at home with Whitworth and Whitman.  The Pirates used a 13-3 run to break open a tight game at the end of the first period on Friday and went to victory, despite 16 points from the Bruins’ Alex Stockner and 10 points and eight assists by Jack Martin.  Stockner scored 25 points, hitting 6-7 from the field and 13-14 from the line, to lead the Bruins past the Missionaries on Saturday.  Evan Atwater and Dan Lingenfelder added 12 points apiece, and Brady Strutz scored 10.  The Bruins pulled into a three-way tie for 6th in the conference standings with Pacific and Whitman.

COACH MARK SUNDQUIST:

Mark Sundquist (Seattle Pacific '89) is 89-129 (.408) to date in his 9th 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
Lewis & Clark - 4-13 (3-5 home, 1-8 road)

Puget Sound - 3-14 (2-7 home, 1-7 road)

Pacific - 5-12 (3-6 home, 2-6 road)

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. 26-Feb. 1 and received honorable mention for the Northwest Conference Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week.  In an 83-67 loss to Whitworth on Jan. 30, he scored 16 points on 6-12 field goals (3-7 on threes) and 1-3 on free throws, with 6 rebounds, an assist and a steal.  In a 77-71 win over Whitman on Jan. 31, he scored 25 points on 6-7 field goals and 13-14 free throws, with 6 rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot.  For the week, he totaled 41 points (20.5 ppg) on 12-19 field goals (.632), including 3-7 three-pointers (.429), and 14-17 free throws (.824), with 12 rebounds (6.0 rpg), 2 assists, a blocked shot and a steal.  He has been the BAA Athlete of the Week and honorable mention for NWC Student-Athlete of the Week five times now this season.  Stockner is 4th in the NWC in field goal pct. (.569), 11th in rebounding (5.3), 11th in scoring (14.7).

* 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; Jan. 19-25)
- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week (HM, Nov. 24-30; HM, Jan. 19-25)

Alex Stockner ---
- Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week (Dec. 1-7; Dec. 8-14; Jan. 5-11; Jan. 12-18; Jan. 26-Feb. 1)
- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week (HM, Dec. 1-7; HM, Dec. 8-14; HM, Jan. 5-11; HM, Jan. 12-18; HM, Jan. 26-Feb. 1)

* Stockner Narrowly Misses Pair of Free Throw Records

Alex Stockner narrowly missed a couple of George Fox records went he went 13-14 from the free throw line in the Bruins’ 77-71 win over Whitman on Jan. 31 in Newberg.  He made his first 12 free throws before missing one, then sank the last one.  Had he made all 14, he would have surpassed the single-game percentage record of 1.000 on a 13-13 night by Justin Paola vs. Western Oregon on Feb. 12, 1994.  He also just missed the Bruin record for best free throw percentage with a miss of .933 (14-15), achieved three times in team history by Tom Hewitt at Pacific (12/18/75), Hille van der Kooy vs. Eastern Oregon (12/5/80), and Randy Dunn vs. Linfield, (1/6/84).

* NCAA Stats: Bruins, Martin Nationally Ranked in Assists

In the latest NCAA national statistics (thru Feb. 1), George Fox as a team was 49th in assists per game (15.7) … Jack Martin was 33rd in assists (5.6) …

* NWC Stats: Martin Takes Over League Lead in Assists

Where the Bruins rank in the latest Northwest Conference stats (thru Feb. 3):
Scoring Offense – 8th (71.4)
Scoring Defense – 7th (77.7)
Scoring Margin – 9th (-6.4)
Field Goal Pct. - 6th (.444)
Field Goal Pct. Defense – 4th (.454)
3-Pt Field Goals – 6th (7.26)
3-Pt Field Goal Pct. – 8th (.323)
3-Pt Field Goal Pct. Defense – 9th (.403)
Free Throw Pct. – 9th (.670)
Rebounding Offense – 6th (36.2)
Rebounding Defense - 5th (36.6)
Rebounding Margin – 6th (-0.4)
Assists – 4th (15.68)
Blocked Shots - 8th (1.16)
Steals – 8th (4.79)
Turnover Margin – 8th (-3.21)
Assist/Turnover Ratio – 4th (1.00)

- Jack Martin is 1st in assists (5.58), 3rd in 3-pt field goals (2.68), 5th in assist/turnover ratio (1.74), 10th in 3-pt pct. (.398), 16th in scoring (13.4) …
- Evan Atwater is 9th in 3-pt field goals (1.74), 12th in free throw pct. (.722), 19th in rebounding (4.3), 20th in scoring (11.9) ...

- Alex Stockner is 4th in field goal pct. (.569), 11th in rebounding (5.3), 11th in scoring (14.7) …
- Travis Toedtemeier is 16th in rebounding (4.3) ...

* Double-Doubles:

- Jack Martin: career 3, season 3 - 17 pts/10 ast vs. Corban, 12/29; 11 pts/11 ast at Whitman, 1/3; 17 pts/11 reb at Willamette, 1/23

* The Wirta Watch: “Biggs” Adds Two More 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’ home games vs. Whitworth and Whitman this past weekend, he has now seen 658 straight games, home and away.  He has worked 458 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 (1,070 of 2,097 for 51.03%) in the 105 years of Bruin basketball.