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NEWBERG, Ore. - In a season in which they suffered more than
their share of narrow, heartbreaking defeats, the George Fox
University Bruins put that behind them and ended the year on a high
note with a 72-65 win over the Whitman College Missionaries in
their Northwest Conference men's basketball finale Saturday evening
here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
The game was close and tied four times in the first 12 minutes
before the Bruins took the lead for good on a jumper by Brent
Satern that made it 17-15 with eight minutes left in the first
half. They eventually extended the lead to eight points at 30-22 on
a three-pointer by Mark Metzler with 2:11 remaining, and held a
33-27 advantage at the intermission. Travis Toedtemeier's 11 points
led the Bruins at the break, while the league's leading scorer,
Chris Faidley, had eight for the Missionaries.
The Bruins retained the lead throughout the second half but
could never put the Missionaries completely away. A three-pointer
by Evan Atwater gave the Bruins their biggest lead of 13 points at
45-32 with 15:13 to go, but the Missionaries threatened again as
Faidley fired in 19 in the second half, his conventional
three-point play cutting the gap to two at 57-55 with 3:32 left.
Metzler and Satern hit two buckets apiece to boost the lead back to
10 at 65-55 with 1:07 left, and the Bruins hit seven of nine free
throws in the final 33 seconds to hang on.
Satern led the Bruins with 19 points and passed out eight
assists, ending his career with 1,019 points for 31st on the GFU
all-time list and 6th in assists with 483. Toedtemeier added 14
points, Atwater 12, and Metzler 11. Matt Noble grabbed a
career-high 10 rebounds, leading the Bruins to a 39-31 edge on the
boards. The Bruins had 20 offensive boards, enabling them to take
22 more shots than the Missionaries. George Fox shot .391 (27-69)
from the field to .511 (24-47) for Whitman.
Faidley led all scorers with 27 points and moved into 10th place
on Whitman's all-time career scoring list with 1,209 points in
three seasons, with his senior year still to come. He was 12-14
from the line, all the free throws the Missionaries took. Graham
Brewer chipped in with 12 points, and he and Max Adcox had eight
rebounds each. Faidley and Jordan Wheeler handed out three assists
apiece.
George Fox, which dropped seven games by four points or less,
finished with a 9-16 overall record and a 5-11 league mark for 8th
place in the standings. Whitman concluded its season at 5-19
overall and 1-15 in the NWC, in 9th place.
Before the game, the Bruins honored the careers of five
graduating seniors in their final game, including Satern, Metzler,
Taylor Martin, Noble, and Brady Strutz. Sidelined by a knee injury
for the entire season, Strutz may possibly return if he can secure
a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA and his rehab goes well.
