NEWBERG, Ore. - Alex Stockner had 26 points and 14 rebounds and the George Fox University Bruins torched the nets for a .607 shooting mark in the second half to overtake the University of Puget Sound Loggers 79-72 in a Northwest Conference men's basketball opener Saturday evening here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

With the win, the Bruins ended a five-game losing streak and improved to 4-6 on the season.  The Loggers, who won the conference last year with a perfect 16-0 record, fell to 4-6 as their 17-game regular-season league winning streak was snapped.

Puget Sound scored the first two buckets of the game on a rebound layup by Colin Koach and a jumper by David Aberg and led throughout the first half.  The Bruins closed within a point at 7-6 on two Rich Smith free throws with 15:29 to play, but the Loggers then scored 10 unanswered points to go up 17-6 with 12:22 remaining and stayed comfortably in front the rest of the half.  Their largest lead was 15 points at 24-9 with 9:28 left after a Riggs Yarbro putback, and the Loggers held a 41-30 advantage at halftime.

Puget Sound held a 13-point lead of 49-36 with 18:30 to play when the home team started its comeback.  A 12-2 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes, eight of the points by Smith, pulled the Bruins within three at 51-48.  The Loggers twice got it back up to five points before Jack Martin drained a three-pointer to tie it 55-55 with ten minutes to go.  Martin's free throw at 9:10 gave George Fox the lead for the first time at 56-55, and the Bruins never trailed again.

George Fox built the lead to as much as seven points four times over the next six minutes, three times on two baskets and two free throws by Stockner and once on a four-point play by Martin, who was fouled as he hit a long-range bomb with six minutes to play.  Two freebies by Stockner gave the Bruins their largest lead of 76-68 with 2:23 left before the Loggers closed within four at 76-72 on two Austin Boyce charity tosses, but Evan Atwater hit two free throws with 14 seconds left and Stockner another one with eight seconds to go to secure the win.

In addition to Stockner's big game - he hit 10-13 from the field and also blocked a pair of shots - Smith and Martin finished with 17 points apiece for the Bruins.  Stephen Wiseley had six assists and Martin five.  The Bruins hit 17-28 from the field in the second half, including 14 of their first 20 to open the half, and wound up shooting an even .500 (27-54) for the game.  The Bruins also owned the boards 44-33.

Yarbro led the Loggers with 17 points, followed by Boyce with 15 and Koach with 14.  Boyce just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, and Aberg handed out four assists.  The Loggers connected on just 21-62 from the floor for a .339 percentage, and were only 2-19 (.105) from three-point range.

NOTES: Puget Sound's last regular-season conference loss before its loss to the Bruins was an 87-67 setback at home to Lewis & Clark College on Feb. 22, 2008 ... George Fox hosts Pacific University Monday at 8:00 p.m. in conference action, with the GFU-Pacific women's game preceding at 6:00 p.m. ... Puget Sound visits Linfield College Sunday for a 6:00 p.m. NWC contest, following the women's game at 4:00 p.m.