MBSK: WHAT’S BRUIN - Surprising Bruins Head to Eastern Washington for NWC Pair

* Upcoming Games:

- Fri., Jan. 8, 8:00 pm - at Whitman College (NWC), Walla Walla, Wash.

- Sat., Jan. 9, 8:00 pm - at Whitworth University (NWC), Spokane, Wash.

NEWBERG, Ore. - Picked seventh in the pre-season coaches' poll, the surprising  George Fox University Bruins (5-6, NWC 2-0) face a rugged test this weekend with visits to the only Northwest Conference teams with overall record above .500, Whitman College (7-4, NWC 1-1) on Friday and Whitworth University (9-2, NWC 2-0) on Saturday.

Both games tip off at 8:00 p.m. following NWC women's games at 6:00 p.m.  George Fox campus stations KFOX will be on hand for webcasts of all four games, while the home teams for each game are expecting to provide live stats and video streaming. 

The Bruins opened conference play at home Saturday with a stunning 79-72 upset of the Puget Sound Loggers, who had been picked to finish second in the conference, and followed that with a solid 80-68 home win over the Pacific Boxers on Monday.  George Fox is now tied for first in the NWC with Whitworth and Linfield College.  Alex Stockner led the way against UPS with a double-double of 26 points and 14 rebounds, while Rich Smith and Jack Martin added 17 points apiece.  Six Bruins scored in double figures against Pacific, with Evan Atwater tallying 20, Stockner 14, Martin, Stephen Wiseley, and Travis Todetemeier 11 each, and Smith 10.  Wiseley also had eight assists.

Whitman (7-4, NWC 1-1): The Missionaries from Walla Walla, Wash., had a five-game winning streak during non-conference play that ended in a two-point home loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater, unbeaten and ranked third nationally at the time ... Whitman is coming off an 87-60 rout of Willamette on Sunday in which Peter Clark led the way with 18 points, including 4-10 on three-pointers ... Whitman was picked to tie for fifth with Pacific while George Fox and Willamette tied for seventh in the pre-season NWC coaches' poll ... Series record (since 1971): George Fox leads 24-15 (15-3 home, 9-12 away) ... The teams split last year, the Missionaries winning 94-85 in Walla Walla on Jan. 3 and the Bruins 77-71 in Newberg on Jan. 31 ... Whitman leads the NWC in scoring (88.2, 8th nationally) and steals (12.36, 7th nationally) while ranking 2nd in rebounding (42.4) and 3-pointers (8.27, 30th nationally) and 7th in defense (79.5) ... G Brandon Shaw is 9th in scoring (13.9) and leads the NWC in steals (2.82, 30th nationally) ... G LuQuam Thompson is 18th in scoring (11.6) ... G Peter Clark is 20th in scoring (11.5) and leads the NWC in 3-pointers (2.91, 49th nationally) ... G Justin Artis is 23rd in scoring (11.1) ... F Daniel Davidson is 24th in scoring (11.0) ... F David Michaels is 10th in rebounding (5.3) ... Coach Eric Bridgeland is in his 2nd season at Whitman and his 8th season overall, including five years at Puget Sound and a 14-game stint as interim head coach at Pepperdine ... Next game: Jan. 9 vs. Pacific, 8 p.m.

Whitworth (9-2, NWC 2-0): The Pirates from Spokane, Wash., are riding an eight-game winning streak and are listed among "others receiving votes" in the D3hoops.com national poll ... The Pirates' last three victories include a 10-point home win over Wisconsin-Whitewater, undefeated and ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time, and impressive NWC road wins over Willamette and Lewis & Clark ... Whitworth hosts Pacific Friday before meeting the Bruins ... Whitworth has won the last three NWC Tournament titles to earn NCAA Tournament berths and was picked to win the conference this year in the pre-season NWC coaches' poll ... Series record (since 1974): George Fox trails 11-22 (6-10 home, 5-12 away) ... Whitworth has won the last seven meetings, including 94-60 in Spokane on Jan.2 and 83-67 in Newberg on Jan. 30 last year ... The Bruins' last win in the series was 77-69 in overtime in Newberg on Dec. 2, 2005 ... Whitworth is 1st in the NWC in defense (70.3), scoring margin (+12.3, 28th nationally), field goal pct. (.473), 3-point field goals (9.36, 8th nationally), and assists (16.91, 20th nationally), and is 2nd in scoring (82.5, 28th nationally) and rebound margin (+3.3) ... G Eric Beal is 8th in scoring (14.5), 1st in assists (6.18, 10th nationally), and 3rd in steals (2.27) and 3-point field goals (2.27) ... F David Riley is 11th in scoring (13.5) and 2nd in 3-point field goals (2.55) ... C Nate Montgomery is 13th in scoring (13.3), 4th in field goal pct. (563), and 6th in rebounding (6.5) ... F Jack Loofburrow is 19th in scoring (11.5) ... Coach Jim Hayford is 172-54 to date in his 9th season at Whitworth, and 209-81 in his 11th season overall ... The Pirates host Pacific Friday before meeting the Bruins ... Next game: Jan. 15 at Puget Sound, 6 p.m.

BRUIN BITS:

* Stockner Earns Third BAA Award, HM Again for NWC Honors

For the third time this season, Alex Stockner has been named the Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week and received honorable mention for the Northwest Conference Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week after a solid three games for the Bruins during the week of Dec. 28-Jan. 3.

In a 91-63 loss on Dec. 28 at Augsburg, Stockner scored 11 points on 3-6 field goals (2-3 on threes) and 3-4 free throws, with 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal.  In a 94-59 setback at Wisconsin-River Falls on Dec. 29, he had 11 points on 4-8 field goals and 3-4 free throws, with 7 rebounds, an assist and a steal.  In a 79-72 upset of Puget Sound at home on Jan. 2, he posted his first career double-double with 26 points, 19 in the second half, and 14 rebounds.  He hit 10-13 from the field, including his only three-point try, and 5-6 from the line, along with 2 blocked shots, an assist and a steal.  For the week, he scored 48 points (16.0 ppg) on 17-27 field goals (.630), including 3-5 (.600) on threes, and 11-14 free throws (.7860, with 30 rebounds (10.0 rpg), with 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocked shots.

Stockner, a 6-5 senior forward from Monmouth, Ore., and an honorable mention All-NWC performer last year, currently ranks 2nd in the conference in 3-pt field goal pct. (.579), 3rd in field goal pct. (.574), 6th in scoring (15.3), 7th in rebounding (6.2) and free throw pct. (.805), and 10th in blocked shots (0.55).

* 2009-10 Honors

Stephen Wiseley

- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Nov. 16-22

- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week - HM, Nov. 16-22

Alex Stockner

- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Nov. 23-29; Dec. 7-13; Dec. 28-Jan. 3

- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week - HM, Nov. 23-29; HM, Dec. 7-13; HM, Dec. 28-Jan. 3

Evan Atwater

- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Nov. 30-Dec. 6

- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week - HM, Nov. 30-Dec. 6

* NCAA Stats (thru Jan. 3): Wiseley Listed Nationally in Assists, FT Pct.

- Stephen Wiseley is 26th in free throw pct. (.897), 48th in assists (5.0) ...

* NWC Stats (thru Jan. 4): Stockner Among Top 10 in Six League Stats

- George Fox is 2nd in 3-pt field goal pct. (.364), 3-pt field goal pct. defense (.286), 3rd in assists (14.73), 4th in 3-pt field goals (7.55), free throw pct. (.732), rebounding defense (38.1), 5th in field goal pct. (.420), assist/TO ratio (0.89), 6th in defense (78.7), rebounding (34.1), rebounding margin (-4.0), 7th in scoring (70.5), field goal pct. defense (.478), 8th in blocked shots (1.91), steals (6.18), scoring margin (-8.2), 9th in turnover margin (-3.27) ...

- Alex Stockner is 2nd in 3-pt field goal pct. (.579), 3rd in field goal pct. (.574), 6th in scoring (15.3), 7th in rebounding (6.2), free throw pct. (.805), 10th in blocked shots (0.55) ...

- Stephen Wiseley is 2nd in free throw pct. (.907), steals (2.50), 3rd in assists (5.30), 4th in assist/TO ratio (1.36), 10th in 3-pt field goals (1.60), 22nd in scoring (11.3) ...

- Rich Smith is 4th in rebounding (7.3), 13th in blocked shots (0.44), 14th in scoring (13.0) ...

- Evan Atwater is 6th in 3-pt field goals (1.73, T), 9th in free throw pct. (.794), 12th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.380), 15th in field goal pct. (.424), 16th in scoring (11.8) ...

- Dan Lingenfelder is 9th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.395), 11th in blocked shots (0.45, T), 14th in 3-pt field goals (1.36) ...

- Cole Whitehurst is 14th in rebounding (4.7) ...

* Double-Doubles

- Rich Smith: season 2, career 2 - 13 pts, 15 reb vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 11/20; 13 pts, 11 reb vs. Menlo at Redlands, Calif., 12/3

- Alex Stockner: season 1, career 1 - 26 pts, 14 reb vs. Puget Sound, 1/2

* Career Lists: Atwater Passes 900 Points in Climb Toward 1,000

- Evan Atwater: With 28 points in the Bruins' games vs. Puget Sound and Pacific, Atwater has 923 points and needs 77 to become the 34th player in Bruin history to reach 1,000 for a career ...

* Statistician "Biggs" Adds Two Home Games to His Streaks

Adding the Bruins' two games vs. Puget Sound and Pacific to his totals this past weekend, long-time statistican Mike "Biggs" Wirta has stretched his streak of Bruin men's basketball games attended, home and away, to 676 in a row.  He has worked 623 straight men's home games, not missing one 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 (1,087 of 2,114 for 51.42%) in the 106 seasons of Bruin basketball.

* Head Coach Mark Sundquist

Head coach Mark Sundquist (Seattle Pacific '87) is 95-140 (.404, 51-52 home, 32-74 road, 12-14 neutral) to date in his 10th season at George Fox ... He is the third-winningest coach in Bruin history behind Mark Vernon (318-218, 1982-2000) and Lorin Miller (99-72, 1970-76) ... He was the Northwest Conference Coach of the Year in 2004-05 ... Against Whitman, he is 10-8 (7-2 home, 3-6 away) ... Against Whitworth, he is 5-13 (3-6 home, 2-7 away) ...