MBSK: WHAT’S BRUIN - Atwater Hoping for 1,000 Career Points as Bruins Visit UPS Friday

* Upcoming Games:

- Fri., Jan. 29, 8:00 pm - at University of Puget Sound (NWC), Tacoma, Wash.

NEWBERG, Ore. - After winning two out of three games in the space of five days, the George Fox University Bruins face a relatively light week - at least in terms of the number of games - when they visit the University of Puget Sound Loggers Friday for an 8:00 p.m. tilt, the Bruins' only game of the week.

The George Fox-Puget Sound men's game will follow the women's conference game at 6:00 p.m.  George Fox campus radio station KFOX will webcast both games while Puget Sound will provide live stats for each at the following links:

KFOX Radio:

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

Live Stats:

http://www2.ups.edu/athletics/live/basketball/xlive.htm

George Fox is 8-10 overall and 5-4 in the conference, half a game behind Pacific Lutheran University (5-3 in the NWC) in 4th place.  Only two games separate the 3rd through 7th-place teams in the conference, and as only the top four make it to the NWC Tournament, intense competition looms for all the teams involved.  Lewis & Clark College is 5th at 4-4, while Puget Sound and Whitman College are both 3-5.  Whitworth University at 8-0 and Linfield College at 7-1 have established themselves in the top two spots in the conference.

Senior wing Evan Atwater will be looking to reach a historic milestone in Tacoma Friday, as he ended Tuesday's game at Pacific University two points shy of 1,000 for his career with 998.  When he gets it, he will become the 34th player in the 106-year history of George Fox basketball to reach that mark. 

The Bruins are coming off a 2-1 week in which they defeated Lewis & Clark 76-71 in Portland on Friday, Pacific Lutheran 92-57 at home on Saturday, and lost at Pacific 72-69 on Tuesday.  Five players scored in double figures in the Lewis & Clark win, led by Jack Martin with 17, while Alex Stockner added 16 and Stephen Wiseley, Evan Atwater and Rich Smith all scored 10.  Wiseley added 9 assists, and Atwater broke a 71-71 tie with a clutch three-pointer with 1:11 left.  Atwater scored 17 to lead the blowout win over PLU, with Wiseley adding 13 and Cole Whitehurst 10.  Smith nabbed 15 rebounds and Martin had 6 assists.  Smith just missed his 4th double-double with 15 points and 9 rebounds in the loss at Pacific, while Atwater and Stockner tossed in 13 apiece. 

Puget Sound (7-10, NWC 3-5, 6th T): The defending NWC champion Loggers from Tacoma, Wash., were picked to finish in a tie for 2nd with Linfield, while George Fox and Willamette tied for 7th in the pre-season NWC coaches' poll ...  The Loggers are coming off an 85-82 loss at Lewis & Clark Saturday in which Nadav Heyman and Connor Gehring scored 15 points each and Bryce Levin and Kaleb Shelton had 13 apiece ... Series record (since 1974): George Fox trails 11-26 (7-9 home, 4-17 away) ... The Bruins took this year's first meeting 79-72 in Newberg on Jan.2, the conference opener for both teams ... The Loggers' last win in the series was 100-79 in Tacoma on Feb. 7, 2009 ... UPS ranks 2nd in the NWC in turnover margin (+6.59, 7th nationally), steals (9.47), 3rd in free throw pct. (.727), 4th in scoring (80.3, 29th nationally), 7th in defense (82.9), 8th in field goal pct. (.412), assists (11.76), and field goal pct. defense (.499), and 9th in rebounding margin (-6.2) ... F Austin Boyce is 9th in the NWC in scoring (15.2), 7th in rebounding (5.7) ... G Nadav Heyman is 2nd in steals (2.21), 6th in assists (3.36) 12th in free throw pct. (.782) , 17th in scoring (12.1) ... G Colin Koach is 4th in free throw pct. (.856), 21st in scoring (11.2) ... F Kaleb Shelton is 16th in scoring (12.5), 7th in rebounding (5.7) ... Coach Justin Lunt is 69-28 to date in his 4th season at UPS ... Next game: Jan. 30 vs. Linfield, 8 p.m.

BRUIN BITS:

* Atwater Named BAA Athlete of the Week, HM for NWC Honors

Hitting a game-winning shot in one game and leading the team in scoring in another, Evan Atwater has been named the Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week for Jan. 18-24, and also received honorable mention for Northwest Conference Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week as the Bruins went 2-0.

In a 76-71 win at Lewis & Clark on Friday, Atwater scored 10 points on 4-6 field goals (2-4 on threes), hitting a three-pointer with 1:11 left to break a 71-71 tie, along with 3 rebounds and 2 assists.  In a 92-67 win over Pacific Lutheran on Saturday, he led the way with 17 points on 5-10 field goals (3-4 on threes) and 4-4 free throws, with 2 rebounds and 2 steals.  For the week, he totaled 27 points (13.5 ppg) on 9-16 field goals (.563), including 5-8 (.625) on threes, and 4-4 free throws (1.000), with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Atwater, a senior from Port Orchard, Wash., was also named BAA Athlete of the Week for Nov. 30-Dec. 6 and was honorable mention for NWC honors at the same time.  He ranks 5th in the NWC in free throw pct. (.844), 7th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.403), 11th in 3-pt field goals (1.61), 15th in field goal pct. (.451), 20th in scoring (11.4), and with 998 career points, needs only two more to become the 34th player in Bruin history to reach 1,000 points for a career.

* 2009-10 Honors

Stephen Wiseley

- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Nov. 16-22; Jan. 11-17

- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week - HM, Nov. 16-22; HM, Jan. 11-17

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; Jan. 18-24

- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week - HM, Nov. 30-Dec. 6; HM, Jan. 18-24

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. 24): Wiseley Among Leaders in FT Pct., Assists

- George Fox is 20th in assists (16.6), 23rd in 3-pt field goal pct. (.392), 25th in 3-pt field goals (8.4), 3rd in free throw pct. (,.744) ...

- Stephen Wiseley is 11th in free throw pct. (.902), 35th in assists (5.2) ...

* NWC Stats (thru Jan. 26): Bruins Lead League in 3-Point FG and FT Pct.

- George Fox is 1st in 3-pt field goal pct. (.385), free throw pct. (.746), 2nd in assists (16.33), 3-pt field goal pct. defense (.320), 3rd in field goal pct. (.448), assist/TO ratio (1.04), 4th in rebounding defense (36.8), 3-pt field goals (8.22), blocked shots (2.33, T), 5th in defense (77.7), field goal pct. defense (.464), 6th in scoring margin (-3.6), rebounding margin (-2.8), 7th in scoring (74.2), 8th in rebounding (34.0), steals (6.17), turnover margin (-2.28) ...

- Alex Stockner is 3rd in field goal pct. (.526), 7th in free throw pct. (.806), 10th in rebounding (5.5, T), 11th in scoring (14.1) ...

- Stephen Wiseley is 1st in free throw pct. (.905), 3rd in assists (5.12), 5th in assist/TO ratio (1.30), 6th in steals (1.71), 9th in 3-pt field goals (1.76), 18th in scoring (11.7) ...

- Rich Smith is 4th in rebounding (7.5), 12th in blocked shots (0.50, T), 15th in scoring (12.8) ...

- Evan Atwater is 5th in free throw pct. (.844), 7th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.403), 11th in 3-pt field goals (1.61), 15th in field goal pct. (.451), 20th in scoring (11.4) ...

- Dan Lingenfelder is 4th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.421), 9th in blocked shots (0.59, T) ...

* 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 Needs Two Points to Join Bruins' 1,000-Point Club

- Evan Atwater: With 40 points in the Bruins' last three games, Atwater now has 998 career points and needs just 2 to become the 34th player in Bruin history to reach 1,000 for a career ... Immediately ahead are Mike Rasmussen (1,004, 1989-93) and Kurt Ronnow (1,013, 1988-92) ...

* Statistician "Biggs" Adds Three Games to His Streaks

Adding the Bruins' three games at Lewis & Clark, vs. Pacific Lutheran, and at Pacific to his totals, long-time statistican Mike "Biggs" Wirta has stretched his streak of Bruin men's basketball games attended, home and away, to 683 in a row.  He has worked 626 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 (1,094 of 2,121 for 51.58%) in the 106 seasons of Bruin basketball.

* Head Coach Mark Sundquist

Head coach Mark Sundquist (Seattle Pacific '87) is 98-144 (.405, 53-53 home, 33-77 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 Puget Sound, he is 4-15 (3-7 home, 1-8 away) ...