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WHAT’S BRUIN: Men’s Basketball News & Notes 12/1
Overall Record: 1-3 (Home 0-2, Road 1-1, Neutral 0-0)
NWC Record: 1-0, 1st (Home 0-0, Road 1-0)
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Coming Up: Bruins’ PLU Game Saturday 3rd of 10 Straight on Road
* Recent Games: Bruins Hang On to Defeat Willamette in NWC Opener
* Wiseley Wins BAA Award, Receives HM for NWC Weekly Honor
* NWC Stats: Four Bruins Listed Among Top 17 in NWC Scoring
* Career Lists: Wiseley Slips to 2nd in Career Free Throw Pct.
* Statistician “Biggs” Moves Within Four of 700 Straight Games
* Coming Up:
- Sat., Dec. 4, 8 pm - at Pacific Lutheran University (1-3, NWC 0-0), Salem, Ore.
NEWBERG, Ore. – Fresh from a thrilling 91-88 road win over the Willamette Bearcats to open the Northwest Conference season, the George Fox Bruins hope to make it to in a row on the road when they visit the Pacific Lutheran Lutes Saturday for an NWC doubleheader, with the men playing at 8 p.m. after the women’s game at 6 p.m.
The Pacific Lutheran contest will be the third in a string of ten straight games away from home for the Bruins, who will not play at home again until Jan. 8. The game at Willamette on Nov. 30 and the upcoming PLU match mark the first time since the 2006-07 season that conference games have been played before the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
PLU will provide live stats and a live webcast of both games Saturday, while George Fox campus station KFOX will have live audio of the game. Links for all are provided below:
Pacific Lutheran live stats: http://www.plu.edu/athletics-stats/mbball/livestats/xlive
Pacific Lutheran webcast: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/plu.portal#
George Fox KFOX live audio: http://www.georgefox.edu/offices/asc/kfoxradio/
The next game for the Bruins will be a Dec. 9 encounter at Portland State, only the second game for the Bruins against an NCAA Division I opponent since the start of the ‘modern’ era of GFU basketball, which started in 1965 when the program entered the NAIA. The Bruins also played PSU in 1978.
Pacific Lutheran (1-3, NWC 0-0, 2nd T): The Lutes from Parkland, Wash. (a Tacoma suburb) were picked to finish in a tie for 4th in the Northwest Conference pre-season poll with the Bruins and the Whitman Missionaries ... The Lutes have lost their last two games, both in the Walla Walla Vineyard Classic, 75-74 to Northwest and 81-67 to Eastern Oregon ...... Series record: George Fox trails 13-18 (8-7 home, 5-11 road) ... The teams split last year, the Bruins winning 92-67 in Newberg on Jan. 23 and the Lutes winning 70-67 in Parkland on Feb. 20 ... In NWC stats, PLU ranks 1st in free throw pct. (.797), 2nd in blocked shots (2.25, T), 3rd in defense (72.2), 3-pt pct. (.377), 4th in field goal pct. (.482), 6th in assists (12.75), steals (7.00)8th in scoring (73.8), 9th in rebounding (30.8) ... The Lutes have four double-figure scorers: Kyle MacTaggart (12.0, 22nd in the NWC), Andrew Earnest (11.5, 23rd), James Conti (11.0, T), Curtis Trondsen (10.3, 29th T) ... Victor Bull is the top rebounder (6.0, 14th) ... Conti is the assists leader (3.50, 6th T) ... Coach Steve Dickerson is 37-59 to date in his 5th year at PLU ... Next: PLU hosts Pacific Friday to open NWC play before meeting the Bruins ... Dec. 7 vs. St. Martin’s, 7 pm (non-conference).
* Recent Games: Bruins Hang On to Defeat Willamette in NWC Opener
Nov. 30 - George Fox 91, at Willamette 88
Mike Taylor made a critical steal with 14 seconds left and the Bruins leading by only two points, then hit three free throws in the waning seconds as the Bruins held off the Bearcats in their Northwest Conference opener. The Bruins had fallen behind 82-81 on a Willamette four-point play with 2:28 left, but Taylor’s layup and free throw with 2:09 to go put the Bruins ahead for good, and Wiseley added two free tosses at 1:35 for a four-point lead that the Bearcats could not overcome. Taylor finished with a game-high 28 points, Rich Smith had a double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds, and Stephen Wiseley added 21.
BRUIN BITS:
* Wiseley Wins BAA Award, Receives HM for NWC Weekly Honor
Leading the team in score in their only game of the week, senior point guard Stephen Wiseley of Kirkland, Wash., has been named the Bruin Athletic Association Men’s Athlete of the Week for Nov. 22-28, and also received honorable mention for Northwest Conference Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week.
In a 78-72 setback at Northwest Christian on Nov. 23, Wiseley scored 18 points 7-11 field goals (.626 pct.), including 1-4 on three-pointers (.250), and 3-4 free throws (.750). He scored 16 points in the second half alone as the Bruins fought back from a 10-point halftime deficit to get within two late in the game before the Beacons pulled away. He also had 3 assists with a rebound and a steal.
Wiseley currently ranks 3rd in the NWC in assists (5.00), 11th in assist/TO ratio (0.83), 12th in scoring (17.0), and 13th in 3-pt field goals (1.50, T). An honorable mention All-NWC performer last year, he led the conference and ranked 9th nationally in field goal pct. (.891).
The Athlete of the Week Award for both men and women is presented throughout the Bruin sports seasons by the Bruin Athletic Association, whose mission is to provide George Fox student-athletes with an outstanding athletic and academic experience and to strengthen the overall competitiveness of the Bruin athletics program. For more information about the organization or to become a member, visit the Bruin Athletic Association website.
* 2010-11 Honors
Cole Whitehurst
- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Nov. 15-21
- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week - HM, Nov. 15-21
Stephen Wiseley
- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Nov. 22-28
- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week - HM, Nov. 22-28
* NWC Stats: Four Bruins Listed Among Top 17 in NWC Scoring
- George Fox is 2nd in rebounding (38.0, T), blocked shots (2.25, T), 3rd in scoring (83.5), 4th in 3-pt field goal pct. defense (.316), 5th in field goal pct. (.467), field goal pct. defense (.450), steals (7.75), 6th in rebound margin (-3.2), 7th in scoring margin (-3.2), rebounding defense (41.2), assists (12.25), assist/TO ratio (0.72), 8th in defense (86.8), free throw pct. (.670), 3-pt field goals (5.25), 3-pt field goal pct. (.273), turnover margin (-0.50) …
- Mike Taylor is 2nd in scoring (21.8), 8th in 3-pt field goals (2.25, T), 11th in steals (1.50, T), 14th in rebounding (6.0, T), assists (2.50) ...
- Rich Smith is 4th in rebounding (8.3), 5th in blocked shots (0.75, T), 6th in scoring (19.3), 8th in steals (1.75, T), 9th in field goal pct. (.541) …
- Stephen Wiseley is 3rd in assists (5.00), 11th in assist/TO ratio (0.83), 12th in scoring (17.0), 13th in 3-pt field goals (1.50, T) ...
- Cole Whitehurst is 13th in field goal pct. (.512), 15th in steals (1.25, T), 17th in scoring (15.5), rebounding (5.5, T) …
- Davis Martin is 3rd in blocked shots (1.25) ...
* Double-Doubles
- Rich Smith: season 1, career 7 - 24 pts, 14 reb at Willamette, 11/30
* Career Lists: Wiseley Slips to 2nd in Career Free Throw Pct.
- Stephen Wiseley: With a 6-8 game in free throws at Willamette on Nov. 30, Wiseley’s career free throw percentage slipped to .869 (106-122), dropping him into 2nd all-time behind Gary Chenault (.870, 195-224, 1976-79) ...
* Statistician “Biggs” Moves Within Four of 700 Straight Games
With the Bruins’ game at Willamette on Nov. 30, long-time Bruin statistician Mike “Biggs” Wirta extended his streaks of George Fox men’s basketball games covered, home and way, to 696 in a row. He has also worked 631 straight 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 (1,107 of 2,134 for 51.87%) in the 106-plus seasons of Bruin basketball.
* Head Coach Mark Sundquist
Head coach Mark Sundquist (Seattle Pacific ’87) is 104-151 (.408, 55-56 home, 37-81 road, 12-14 neutral) to date in his 11th season at George Fox … He became the second-winningest coach in Bruin history, breaking a tie with Lorin Miller (99-72, 1970-76), when he picked up his 100th coaching win in a 103-90 victory over Whitman at home on Feb. 5, 2010. The all-time leader is Mark Vernon (318-218, 1982-2000) … He was the Northwest Conference Coach of the Year in 2004-05 … … Against Pacific Lutheran, he is 9-11 (5-5 home, 4-6 away).
