Box Score

WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Building up as much as a 19-point lead in the second half, the Whitman College Missionaries had to hang on for dear life by fighting off a spirited George Fox University rally late in the game to defeat the Bruins 94-85 in Northwest Conference men's basketball action Saturday night here at the Sherwood Center.

After falling behind 5-0 to start the game, the Bruins bounced back to take their only lead of 6-5 on a layup and subsequent free throw by Alex Stockner three-and-a-half minutes into the game.  The Missionaries regained the lead on a three by Steve Campbell (the Bruins also have one), but Travis Toedtemeier tied it 8-8 with a putback basket at 16:56.  Campbell hit another three 14 seconds later to give the home team the lead for good, and the Missionaries were off to the races.

A pair of free throws by Max Adcox gave the Missionaries a 52-36 lead at the break, and they stretched it to 19 twice, the last at 69-50 on a jumper by Brandon Shaw with 12:44 remaining.  Down by 16 with just under seven minutes left, the Bruins got back into the game with a 10-0 outburst in the space of 56 seconds, fueled by two three-pointers and a pair of free throws by Evan Atwater that cut the deficit to 81-75 with 5:45 to play.  Stockner's basket with 3:37 left made it a four-point game of 85-81, but the Missionaries got baskets by Jordan Wheeler and Adcox and hit five free throws the rest of the way to seal the win.

Atwater led a quintet of Bruins in double figures with 22 points, including four three-pointers, Stockner scored 21, Dan Lingenfelder had 12, and Jack Martin and Bryan O'Connell notched 11 apiece.  Martin made it a double-double, his second of the season, with 11 assists.  Stockner had seven rebounds, leading the Bruins to a 34-29 edge on the glass.  The Bruins shot a blistering .630 from the field (34-54), but hurt themselves with 25 turnovers while Whitman had only nine.

Chris Faidley led all scorers with 24 points for the Missionaries, hitting 13-13 from the free throw line.  Shaw added 19, Campbell 16 with four threes, Wheeler 12, and Adcox 11.  Faidley also had six rebounds and three assists, and Shaw picked up four steals.  The Missionaries hit 31-41 from the charity stripe to only 9-16 for the Bruins.

George Fox (4-7, NWC 0-2) visits Lewis & Clark College while Whitman (5-5, NWC 2-0) goes to Linfield College Friday, both games tipping off at 8:00 p.m.  They will be preceded by NWC women's games at 6:00 p.m.