Box Score

NEWBERG, Ore. – On a night when they did almost everything else well, the George Fox University Bruins' inability to hold onto the basketball proved costly as the Bruins dropped their season finale 84-78 to the visiting Pacific Lutheran University Lutes in Northwest Conference men's action Saturday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

When the final numbers were in, the Bruins had out-shot the Lutes from the field .511 (24-47) to .469 (30-64) and from the line .793 (23-29) to .714 (15-21), made only two fewer three-pointers (9-7), and won the rebound battle by a vast margin (38-28).  The Bruins committed 150% more turnovers than the Lutes, however, 20-8, giving PLU 17 more shots, and therein lay the difference.

Pacific Lutheran never trailed during the first half after opening up an early 8-2 lead behind four points each from Victor Bull and Kyle MacTaggart, but there were four ties and Lutes never led by more than eight.  That came late in the period when two free throws by James Conti made it 39-31 with 1:03 left, but Bryan O'Connell answered with a pair from the charity line with eight seconds left to cut the margin to 39-33 at the intermission.

George Fox shot .524 (11-21) in the half to .432 (16-37) for PLU, but the Bruins also made 14 turnovers to three for the Lutes.  Evan Atwater kept the Bruins in the game with 11 points in the period, while MacTaggart tallied 10 for the Lutes.

After MacTaggart hit two free throws to open the second half, the Bruins rallied behind the three-point shot, Jack Martin sinking three and Brady Strutz one, in a 16-5 outburst that gave the home team an advantage of 49-46 with 14:43 to play.  The teams then battled on virtually even terms over the next eight minutes before the Lutes took the lead for good on a Conti three with 6:06 remaining that made it 65-64 PLU.  That started a string of five consecutive shots made by the Lutes as they stretched their lead to seven at 74-67with 3:33 left.

Free throws by Joe Ahn and Atwater around an Alex Stockner layup brought the Bruins back within a point at 74-73 with 2:32 to play.  Norman Edwards Jr. hit two free throws following a Bruin miss with 1:32 left, then after a Bruin turnover, drove a dagger into the home team with a three from the right corner with 35 seconds left just before the shot clock expired that upped the PLU lead to 79-73.  Forced to foul in an effort to catch up, the Bruins sent the Lutes to the line for six free throws in the final 20 seconds, where the Lutes iced the game by making five of them.

Martin finished with a game-high 21 points for the Bruins, Atwater added 17, and Stockner scored 16.  Martin also had a team-high six rebounds and five assists.

The balanced Lutes had six scorers in double figures, with Conti scoring 19, Josh Derssler 15, MacTaggart, Bull, and Edwards with 12 each, and Tony Polis with 10.  MacTaggart had a team-high six boards, while Conti posted a double-double by handing out 10 assists.  Conti and Polis made four steals each as well.

George Fox, playing before a Homecoming crowd of some 2,250, finished with an overall record of 8-17 and a conference record of 4-12.  Pacific Lutheran was 10-15 overall and also 4-12 in the league as the two teams tied for seventh in the final conference standings.