McMINNVILLE, Ore. - A 24-point hole with 12 minutes left proved too much for the George Fox University Bruins to overcome - though they gave it a brilliant try - as the Linfield College Wildcats hung on for a 74-70 win in a battle for second place in the Northwest Conference men's basketball race Saturday evening here at Ted Wilson Gym.

Linfield scored the first five points of the game on a rebound basket by K.C. Wiser and a steal and layup by Cody Tesoro and never trailed in the game.  The Bruins stayed in the game with some hot early shooting, making seven of their first 13 shots, but went only 1-for-14 the rest of the way and the Wildcats capitalized on their slump. 

The Bruins were within four at 27-23 after Jack Martin drained a three-pointer with 4:24 to go in the half, but the Bruins went scoreless the rest of the period, missing their six last attempts.  Two driving layups by Tesoro keyed the Wildcats' closing burst that gave them a comfortable 38-23 advantage at the intermission.

The Wildcats used another big run of 15-4 at the start of the second half to open up their largest lead of 24 points at 53-29 with 13:40 left in the game, Wiser leading the way with six points in the outburst.  The Bruins began to make a game of it by scoring eight unanswered points on a three-pointer by Stephen Wiseley and a jumper and three by Martin that made it 53-37 with 11:34 left.

After Zach Anderson hit a pair of free throws to interrupt the Bruins' streak, Martin hit another three to ignite another Bruin run, this one of 12-2, that made it an eight-point game at 57-49 with 7:09 to play.  Travis Toedtemeier made a steal and layup, then canned a three from the right corner, to cap the rally.

Tesoro scored seven points over a three-minute span as the Wildcats built the lead back up to 13 at 67-54 with 3:25 to play, but Wiseley sparked a 13-3 Bruin burst with 10 points, including a pair of threes, to make it a 70-67 game with 1:02 minutes to play.  Wiser hit two free throws with 29 seconds left and Tesoro one with 14 seconds to go before Alex Stockner hit a three with four ticks showing that cut the margin to three.  Tesoro iced it with a final freebie with three seconds left.

The Bruins shot .421 (24-57) from the field and .500 (12-24) from three-point range to .396 (21-53) and .182 (2-11) in those categories for the Wildcats, but the difference in the game came at the free throw line.  Linfield hit 30-of-39 from the stripe to 10-of-11 for George Fox as the Bruins were whistled for almost twice as many fouls, 29 to 15.

Wiseley scored 20 points and Martin 13 to lead the Bruins, while Toedtemeier had a team-high five rebounds.  Martin passed out four assists, and Wiseley picked up three steals.

The Wildcats were led by Tesoro with 20 points and Wiser with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds.  Drew Schroeder added 12 points, and Kris Rainwater scored 11 with five blocked shots.

George Fox fell to 11-12 overall and into a third-place tie in the conference with Lewis & Clark College, a 78-35 winner at home over Pacific University, both at 8-6.  Whitman College and Pacific Lutheran University are each two games back at 6-8.  Linfield evened its record at 11-1 and is alone in second at 9-5, behind 14-0 Whitworth University.  The top two teams in the conference host the third and fourth-place teams in the NWC Tournament in two weeks.

NOTES: Evan Atwater scored five points and now has 1,044 career points, 29th on the all-time GFU scoring list.  Ahead is Dave Altender (1,049,  1965-69) ... George Fox hosts Lewis & Clark Friday in the Bruins' final home game of the season at 8:00 p.m., with the NWC women's game preceding at 6:00 p.m. ... Linfield hosts Whitman College Friday, also at 8:00 p.m., with the women's game at 6:00 p.m.