WHAT’S BRUIN: Weekly News & Notes

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

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Recent Games: Bruins Close Non-NWC Play with Win over Corban

* Coming Up: First NWC Games with Trip to Eastern Washington

* Martin Narrowly Misses Bruins’ First Triple-Double in 17 Years

* NCAA Stats: Martin Among National Leaders in Threes

* NWC Stats: Five Bruins Listed Among League Leaders

* The Wirta Watch: “Biggs” Adds Another Game to List of Streaks

RECENT GAMES (1-0): Bruins Close Non-NWC Play with Win over Corban

Dec. 29 - at George Fox 80, Corban 74

The Bruins closed out non-conference play on a winning note, holding off Corban 80-74 in Newberg on Dec. 29.  Jack Martin narrowly missed the first Bruin triple-double in 17 years when he posted 17 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds in the win, while Evan Atwater led all scorers with 23 points and Alex Stockner tossed in 14.  The Bruins led the final 36 minutes, but needed two free throws each by Martin and Atwater in the final 30 seconds to hold off the Warriors.  George Fox finished with a 4-5 non-conference record.

COMING UP: First NWC Games with Trip to Eastern Washington

Fri., Jan. 2, 8:00 pm - at Whitworth University, in Spokane, Wash.

Sat., Jan. 3, 8:00 pm - at Whitman College, in Walla Walla, Wash.

The Bruins now turn their attention to Northwest Conference action, visiting the nationally-ranked Whitworth Pirates on Friday and the Whitman Missionaries on Saturday.  Both games are doubleheaders, following NWC women’s games at 6:00 p.m.  There will be no George Fox webcast of the games by KFOX Radio, as the station’s student announcers are still on holiday break.  Whitworth will webcast its game on the internet via KSBN 1230 AM radio at www.ksbn.net. Whitman may provide LiveStats and video streaming, depending on how renovations are progressing in the school’s Sherwood Center.  Check the athletic pages of those two schools as the games draw nearer.     

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

Whitworth (8-1): The Whitworth Pirates from Spokane, Wash., were picked to finish 2nd in the Northwest Conference pre-season coaches’ poll, the Bruins 9th … Whitworth is ranked 19th in the latest d3hoops.com poll … Series record: George Fox trails 10-21 since 1974 (6-9 home, 4-12) … The Pirates have won the last five meetings, sweeping last year’s series 70-58 in Spokane and 77-69 in Newberg … The Bruins’ last win in the series was 77-69 in overtime on Dec. 2, 2005, in Newberg … Whitworth averages 78.0 ppg (6th in the NWC) and allows 59.7 ppg (1st) … The Pirates lead the NWC in scoring margin (+18.3), field goal pct. (.508), field goal pct. defense (.400), 3-pt field goal pct. defense (.278), rebounding margin (+8.6) … The Pirates have three double-figure scorers: G David Riley (17.6, 6th), P Nate Montgomery (16.0, 10th), P Calvin Jurich (12.5, 23rd) … Montgomery is the top rebounder (6.9) … G Ross Nakamura is the assists leader (4.50) … In NCAA stats (thru Dec. 15), Whitworth was 12th in scoring margin (+17.6), 18th in rebound margin (+9.0), 23rd in field goal pct. (.497), 25th in defense (60.4) … Nakamura was 13th in assist/turnover ratio (3.5) … Riley was 21st in 3-pt field goals (3.5) and 40th in 3-pt pct. (.477) … Three-time NWC Coach of the Year Jim Hayford is 148-47 to date in his 8th season at Whitworth, and 185-74 in his 10th season overall … Next game: Jan. 3 vs. Pacific, 8:00 p.m.

Whitman (3-5): The Whitman Missionaries from Walla Walla, Wash., were picked to finish 7th in the Northwest Conference pre-season coaches’ poll, the Bruins 9th … Series record: George Fox leads 23-14 since 1971 (14-3 home, 9-11 road) … The Bruins swept last year’s series, 82-75 in double overtime in Walla Walla and 72-65 in the season finale in Newberg … The Missionaries’ last win in the series was 69-59 on Feb. 2, 2007, in Walla Walla … Whitman averages 78.0 ppg (6th in the NWC) and allows 82.2 ppg (th) … The Missionaries have three double-figure scorers: G Chris Faidley (21.1, 2nd), G Brandon Shaw (16.4, 9th), G Jordan Wheeler (10.6, 27th) … Shaw is the top rebounder (4.0) … Wheeler is the assists leader (2.88) … In NCAA stats (thru Dec. 15), Whitman was 25th in turnover margin (+5.3) … Faidley was 7th in 3-pt field goals (4.1) and 13th in scoring (23.4) … Coach Eric Bridgeland, who won three NWC titles in five seasons at Puget Sound, is 3-5 to date in his 1st season at Whitman, and is in his 8th season overall as a head coach … Whitman hosts Pacific Friday before meeting the Bruins … Next game: Jan. 5 at Walla Walla, 7:00 p.m.

COACH MARK SUNDQUIST:

Mark Sundquist (Seattle Pacific '89) is 86-122 (.414) 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
Whitworth - 5-11 (3-5 home, 2-6 road)

Whitman - 9-7 (6-2 home, 3-5 road)

BRUIN BITS:

* 2008-09 Honors:

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

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)
- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week (HM, Dec. 1-7; HM, Dec. 8-14)

* Martin Narrowly Misses Bruins’ First Triple-Double in 17 Years

Junior guard Jack Martin narrowly missed posting the first George Fox triple-double in 17 years when he scored 17 points, passed out 10 assists, and grabbed 8 rebounds in the Bruins’ 80-74 win over Corban on Dec. 29.  There have been nine triple-doubles in Bruin history, the last one on Nov. 19, 1991, when NAIA All-American center Dave Wilson posted 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 blocked shots against Northwest Christian.  The last one to include assists was by Brian Martin on March 2, 1991, with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists vs. Willamette.

* NCAA Stats: Martin Among National Leaders in Threes

In the latest NCAA national statistics (thru Dec. 15), Jack Martin was 29th in 3-pt field goals per game (3.4) …

* NWC Stats: Five Bruins Listed Among League Leaders

Where the Bruins rank in the latest Northwest Conference stats (thru Dec. 30):
Scoring Offense – 9th (70.9)
Scoring Defense – 3rd (73.0)
Scoring Margin – 8th (-2.1)
Field Goal Pct. - 6th (.429)
Field Goal Pct. Defense – 4th (.446)
3-Pt Field Goals – 4th (7.44)
3-Pt Field Goal Pct. – 8th (.306)
3-Pt Field Goal Pct. Defense – 4th (.342)
Free Throw Pct. – 7th (.682)
Rebounding Offense – 3rd (38.1)
Rebounding Defense - 6th (36.6)
Rebounding Margin – 6th (+1.6)
Assists – 6th (14.67)
Blocked Shots - 8th (1.22)
Steals – 8th (5.44)
Turnover Margin – 9th (-2.22)
Assist/Turnover Ratio – 6th (0.96)

- Jack Martin is 3rd in 3-pt field goals (3.11), assists (5.00), 6th in steals (1.78, T), 7th in assist/turnover ratio (1.55), 10th in scoring (16.0, T) …
- Evan Atwater is 8th in 3-pt field goals (2.11), 10th in free throw pct. (.750, T), 15th in scoring (14.6) ...

- Alex Stockner is 9th in field goal pct. (.563), 13th in free throw pct. (.744), 18th in rebounding (4.7), 20th in scoring (12.8, T)…
- Travis Toedtemeier is 8th in rebounding (5.6, T), 14th in blocked shots (0.50, T) ...
- Bryan O’Connell is 15th in rebounding (4.9) …

* The Wirta Watch: “Biggs” Adds Another Game 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 Corban game in Newberg on Dec. 29, he has now seen 648 straight games, home and away, and has worked 453 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  (1,060 of 2,087 for 50.8%) in the 105 years of Bruin basketball.