MBSK: WHAT’S BRUIN - Bruins Hope to Return to Winning Ways by Returning Home

* Upcoming Games:

- Fri., Jan. 15, 6:00 pm - vs. Willamette University (NWC), Newberg, Ore.

- Sat., Jan. 16, 6:00 pm - vs. Linfield College (NWC), Newberg, Ore.

NEWBERG, Ore. - After a pair of five-point road losses to the two teams with the best overall records in the Northwest Conference this past weekend, the George Fox University Bruins hope to return to their winning ways when they host the Willamette University Bearcats on Friday and the Linfield College Wildcats on Saturday.

Both games this weekend tip off at 6:00 p.m. as the conference experiments with a time reversal of all NWC doubleheaders; the men's games will precede the women's games at 8:00 p.m. The same situation will occur for all conference twinbills the week of Feb. 8-14 when the Bruins visit Willamette and Linfield. KFOX radio will webcast every game this weekend, with live stats and live video from Stretch Internet also provided as the following links:

KFOX Radio: http://www.georgefox.edu/offices/asc/kfoxradio/

Live Video: http://secure.stretchinternet.com/demo/games.php?user=georgefox&o=cal_stamp&sd=today

Live Stats: http://athletics.georgefox.edu/livestats/index

George Fox is 5-8 overall and 2-2 in the conference, alone in 5th place in the standings.  The Bruins, who were picked to finish 7th in the pre-season coaches' poll, opened league play with home wins over the University of Puget Sound and Pacific University before falling last Friday at Whitman College 90-85 and at Whitworth University on Saturday 75-70 (Whitman is 9-4 and Whitworth is 11-2, with 10 straight wins).

In the Whitman game, the Bruins battled back from 16 down with less than 10 minutes to play to tie it with under two minutes remaining before the Missionaries pulled out the win.  Rich Smith led the Bruins with a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds, Alex Stockner added 18 points, and Stephen Wiseley and Evan Atwater had 14 and 11 points respectively.  Against the red-hot Pirates, the Bruins were down 13 with 11 minutes to go before closing within two late in the game as Jack Martin came off the bench to score 21 second-half points en route to a 28-point night.  He also had six assists, and Wiseley chipped in with 10 points.

Willamette (3-11, NWC 0-5, 9th): The Bearcats from Salem, Ore., were picked to finish tied for 7th with George Fox in the pre-season NWC coaches' poll, George Fox 1st ... Willamette has lost six in a row, dropping a 93-88 decision at home to Lewis & Clark Tuesday despite 22 points and nine rebounds from Cameron Mitchell, 14 points from Ryan Meehan, 13 from Terrell Malley and Marcus Holmes, and 12 from Robert Wood ... Series record (since 1967): George Fox trails 31-42 (18-13 home, 13-29 away) ... The teams split last year, the Bruins winning 75-70 in Salem on Jan. 23 and the Bearcats 87-82 in Newberg on Feb. 20 ... Willamette is 1st in the NWC in rebounding (41.8) and blocked shots (3.50), 3rd in steals (8.43), 4th in scoring (80.4, 39th nationally), 9th in defense (88.8) ... All-NWC P Cameron Mitchell is 1st in scoring (19.9) and rebounding (12.2, 5th nationally), 2nd in blocked shots (1.43), 3rd in field goal pct. (.566) ... P Taylor Mounts is 12th in scoring (13.6), 3rd in free throw pct. (.873, 45th nationally), 5th in blocked shots (0.86), 6th in rebounding (6.9) ... G Marcus Holmes is 19th in scoring (12.1), 7th in assists (3.00) ... G Robbie Kunke is 1st in assists (6.25, 10th nationally), 8th in steals (1.58) ... Coach Kip Ioane is 3-11 to date in his 1st season at Willamette ... Next game: Jan. 22 vs. Pacific Lutheran, 8 p.m.

Linfield (6-6, NWC 4-0, 1st T): The Wildcats from McMinnville, Ore., were picked to finish tied for 2nd in the pre-season NWC coaches' poll, George Fox tied for 7th ... The Wildcats have won five in a row after a 1-6 start, including a 94-85 win at Willamette on Saturday behind 21 points from Cody Tesoro, 19 from Brady Martin, 17 points and 13 rebounds from K.C. Wiser, and 12 points from Jon Weber ... Series record (since 1972): George Fox leads 41-39 (23-15 home, 18-23 away, 0-1 neutral) ... The teams split last year, the Bruins winning 71-67 in Newberg on Jan. 17 and the Bearcats 73-67 in McMinnville on on Feb. 14 ... Linfield is 1st in the NWC in 3-pt field goal pct. defense (.282, 28th nationally), 2nd in field goal pct. (.459), field goal pct. defense (.429), blocked shots (3.42), 4th in defense (77.5), 6th in scoring (76.0) ... G Cody Tesoro in 2nd in scoring (17.8), 10th in free throw pct. (.780), 12th in steals (1.42) ... F Kris Rainwater is 1st in blocked shots 1.75) ... F Zach Anderson is 8th in field goal pct. (.508) ... All-NWC C K.C. Wiser missed the first six games of the season due to injury, but has averaged 15.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg, and shot .531 from the field since returning ... Coach Larry Doty is 294-269 to date in his 23rd season at Linfield ... Linfield hosts Pacific Friday before meeting the Bruins ... Next game: Jan. 22 at Whitworth, 8 p.m.

BRUIN BITS:

* Martin Garners BAA Athlete of the Week, HM for NWC Honors

Giving the Bruins a spark off the bench in two close road losses this past weekend, Jack Martin 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 for games of Jan. 4-10.

In a 90-85 loss at Whitman on Jan. 8, Martin tallied 8 points on 4-7 from the field, adding 5 rebounds, 4, assists, and 2 blocked shots.  In a 75-70 setback at league-leading Whitworth on Jan. 9, he scored 28 points, 21 in the second half, on 9-14 from the field, including 4-6 on threes, and 6-6 from the line, with 2 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.  For the week, he collected 36 points (18.0 ppg) on 13-21 field goals (.619), including 4-8 (.500) on threes, and 6-6 free throws (1.000), with 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocked shots.

Martin, a 5-11 senior from Chico, Calif., is the fourth member of the men's basketball team to win BAA and NWC honorable mention honors this winter, joining Stephen Wiseley, Alex Stockner, and Evan Atwater.

* 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

Jack Martin

- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Jan. 4-10

- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week - HM, Jan. 4-10

* NCAA Stats (thru Jan. 10): Wiseley Climbs to 16th Nationally in FT Pct.

- George Fox is 44th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.348), 48th in 3-pt field goals (7.8) ...

- Stephen Wiseley is 16th in free throw pct. (.911), 50th in assists (4.8) ...

* NWC Stats (thru Jan. 12): Stockner Among Top 10 in Six League Stats

- George Fox is 1st in 3-pt field goal pct. (.384), 2nd in assists (14.92, T), 3rd in 3-pt field goal pct. defense (.314), 4th in rebounding defense (37.2), blocked shots (2.31), 3-pt field goals (7.77), 5th in field goal pct. (.434), free throw pct. (.719), field goal pct. defense (.473), rebounding margin (-2.6), assist/TO ratio (0.87), 6th in defense (79.3), rebounding (34.6, T), 8th in scoring (71.6), scoring margin (-7.7), steals (5.92), 9th in turnover margin (-4.00) ...

- Alex Stockner is 1st in 3-pt field goal pct. (.565), 2nd in field goal pct. (.568), 7th in rebounding (5.9), 8th in scoring (14.8), 12th in free throw pct. (.776), 15th in blocked shots (0.46, T) ...

- Stephen Wiseley is 2nd in free throw pct. (.911), 3rd in assists (4.83), steals (2.25), 5th in assist/TO ratio (1.16), 7th in 3-pt field goals (1.67), 23rd in scoring (11.4) ...

- Rich Smith is 4th in rebounding (7.4), 11th in blocked shots (0.55, T), 13th in scoring (13.3) ...

- Evan Atwater is 6th in free throw pct. (.806), 12th in 3-pt field goals (1.54, T), 13th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.385), 24th in scoring (11.3) ...

- Dan Lingenfelder is 11th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.395), 13th in blocked shots (0.54) ...

* Double-Doubles

- Rich Smith: season 3, career 3 - 13 pts, 15 reb vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 11/20; 13 pts, 11 reb vs. Menlo at Redlands, Calif., 12/3; 23 pts, 12 reb at Whitman, 1/8

- 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 17 points in the Bruins' games at Whitman and Whitworth, Atwater has 940 points and needs 60 to become the 34th player in Bruin history to reach 1,000 for a career ...

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

Adding the Bruins' two games at Whitman and Whitworth 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 678 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 (1,089 of 2,116 for 51.47%) in the 106 seasons of Bruin basketball.

* Head Coach Mark Sundquist

Head coach Mark Sundquist (Seattle Pacific '87) is 95-142 (.401, 51-52 home, 32-76 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 Willamette, he is 4-14 (3-6 home, 1-8 away) ... Against Linfield, he is 7-12 (5-4 home, 2-7 away, 0-1 neutral) ...