FOREST GROVE, Ore. - It was a case of too much Ross Bartlett for the George Fox University Bruins Tuesday night here at the Pacific Athletic Center as the Pacific University senior post scored 29 points and broke the school record for career rebounds, leading the Boxers to their first Northwest Conference men's basketball win of the season 72-69.

George Fox, fighting for a berth in the four-team conference tournament at the end of the season, slipped to 8-10 overall and 5-4 in the conference, half a game behind idle Pacific Lutheran University.  Pacific snapped a nine-game losing streak, improving to 5-13 overall and 1-8 in the league.

Pacific took an early 5-0 lead on a layup by Jonathan Jury and a three-point play by Bartlett, and was up 10-5 before the Bruins got going.  A three-pointer by Evan Atwater and two free throws by Alex Stockner brought the Bruins into a 10-10 tie with 14:54 to go, and there were four lead changes and four ties over the next nine minutes. 

 The Bruins took the lead for the rest of the half on three free throws by Atwater with 6:07 left for a 23-21 lead, and extended it to as many as 10 points at 33-23 on a Rich Smith layin with 2:16 remaining.  Carson Bartlett canned a three from the right corner with nine seconds left to bring the Boxers within five at the intermission, 35-30.  Ross Bartlett had 17 points and eight boards at the break while Atwater led the Bruins with 10 points.

A layup by LeMar Anglin and Adam McElwee's three for the Boxers tied it 35-35 two minutes into the second half, but Stockner hit two free throws and a three in a 7-2 Bruin run that gave the visitors a 42-37 edge with 15:42 left.  The Boxers bounced back with a 17-5 spurt with five different players scoring over the next six minutes, Ross Bartlett's two free throws with 9:49 left giving Pacific its largest lead of 54-47.

The Bruins clawed back and finally tied the game 60-60 on a Cole Whitehurst drive with 4:41 to go.  After two more ties, George Fox took a 68-67 lead on Stephen Wiseley's three with 2:35 remaining, but Pacific regained the lead 69-68 on two A.J. Gaulton free throws at 2:18.  Rich Smith knotted it 69-69 with a charity toss at 1:46 before Anglin hit two freebies with 1:17 left to make it 71-69 Boxers.

The Bruins missed two shots to tie or go ahead in the final minute and fouled Anglin, who hit oen of two free throws with eight seconds left for a three-point lead.  With a chance to tie, Wiseley threw up a three-ball that went in, but the shot came a split second after the final horn had sounded and the Boxers escaped.

Smith led the Bruins with 15 points while Atwater and Stockner added 13 apiece.  Atwater finished the game with 998 career points, two short of becoming the 34th player in the Bruins' 106-year cage history to reach 1,000.  Smith missed a double-double by one rebound, finishing with nine, and Jack Martin handed out five assists. 

Bartlett hit 10-14 field goals and 9-11 free throws for his big scoring night and grabbed 18 rebounds, upping his career total to 693 and breaking the Pacific record of 688 by Dan French (1952-56).  Gaulton added 21 points and passed out five assists.    

NOTES: George Fox visits Puget Sound Friday while Pacific goes to Pacific Lutheran Saturday, both conference games tipping off at 8:00 p.m. ... NWC women's games will precede both men's games at 6:00 p.m.