Box
Score
NEWBERG, Ore. - Holding the highest-scoring Linfield College
Wildcats 28 points below their season average, the George Fox
University Bruins knocked off their Yamhill County rivals 55-51
before some 1,800 fans in a Northwest Conference men's basketball
game on Homecoming Night Saturday here at the Wheeler Sports
Center's Miller Gym.
The Wildcats came into the game averaging 79 points a game,
among the top 50 in the nation, but the Bruins, who are second in
the Northwest Conference in defensive average, held them well below
that mark in winning their third straight game.
The entire game was closely contested, with neither team able to
mount more than a seven-point lead all night. The largest lead by
either team through the first 13 minutes was three before George
Fox took a five-point lead of 21-16 with 6:14 left in the half on a
three-pointer by Evan Atwater, who led the Bruins with eight
first-half points. Linfield answered with an 11-0 run, keyed by two
baskets and two free throws by Jeff Stoefen, to go up 27-21 with
1:12 left. A Bryan O'Connell layup for the Bruins and a free throw
by the Wildcats' K.C. Wiser, who had 11 in the first half, left the
visitors with a 28-23 halftime advantage.
Goals by Atwater, Mark Metzler, and Brent Satern to start the
second half lifted the Bruins to a short-lived 29-28 edge, but
again the Wildcats responded with a run, this one of eight points,
to take the largest lead of the game at 36-29 with 15:11 left on a
jumper by Wiser. Travis Toedtemeier started the Bruin comeback with
a three-pointer that ignited a game-tying 11-4 run, and hit another
three with 9:20 left for a 40-40 deadlock. Satern, who had scored
the last 11 points of the game the night before in the Bruins'
comeback win over Willamette, then stepped up again, hitting two
free throws and back-to-back jumpers for a 46-40 lead with 7:21
remaining.
After a three-point play by Wiser made it 46-43 with 7:04 to
play, both teams went cold for four-and-a-half minutes before
Satern drilled a trey to boost the Bruins back up to a 49-43
advantage with 2:39 left. The Wildcats cut the gap to two at 51-49
with 1:34 left after a pair of free throws each by Drew Schroeder
and Wiser, and had a chance to tie after Joel Paul blocked
O'Connell's shot from the free throw line with 24 seconds left.
Instead, the Wildcats threw the ball away with 12 seconds on the
clock, and Atwater nailed two free throws with 10.8 showing to
boost the Bruin lead back to four at 53-49. Wiser hit a fast-break
layup with five seconds to go that made it a two-point game again,
but Atwater once more drained two charity tosses with 3.5 seconds
left to clinch the win.
Atwater led the Bruins with 16 points, including 6-6 from the
line, and Satern finished with 15. Toedtemeier had nine points off
the bench, all on three-pointers, and a team-leading six rebounds.
Metzler handed out five assists. The Bruins were 20-43 (.465) from
the field, including 7-21 from three-point range, and 8-11 (.727)
from the line. An interesting number was the fact that Linfield had
13 turnovers but the Bruins had no steals.
Wiser led all scorers with 22 for the Wildcats and Stoefen added
10 as a reserve. Both had four rebounds as the Wildcats held a
slight edge on the boards, 26-25. Steve Taylor and Jon Weber had
three assists each, and Wiser had three steals. The Wildcats shot
20-47 (.426) from the field, but made only 1-15 from long range
after entering the game 23rd nationally with 8.0 threes per game.
They also hit 10-11 (.909) from the free throw line.
George Fox (8-13, NWC 4-8) visits Lewis & Clark College
Friday for its last road game of the season, with tipoff set for
8:00 p.m. Linfield (12-9, NWC 7-5) goes to Willamette University
Tuesday, also at 8:00 p.m. Both games will be preceded by NWC
women's contests at 6:00 p.m.
