TACOMA, Wash. - Hoping to secure third place in the Northwest Conference men's basketball standings all by themselves, the George Fox University Bruins let the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes slip through their fingers in the final three minutes and lost 70-67 in the regular season finale Saturday night here at Olson Auditorium.

George Fox is now 12-13 overall and 9-7 in the conference, tied for third with Lewis & Clark College, which won at the University of Puget Sound 76-73.  The Bruins have the tiebreaker for the NWC Tournament, however, because of a season sweep of the Pioneers.  Pacific Lutheran ended its season 9-14 overall and 7-9 in the conference, alone in 5th place.

George Fox raced out to a 17-7 lead five minutes into the game as Travis Toedtemeier knocked down a trio of three-point shots and Dan Lingenfelder added two more. That shooting set the tone for the Bruins throughout the contest as they sank a season-high 15 from beyond the arc in 32 attempts, a .469 percentage.  It was other areas of the game that cost the Bruins, however, as the Lutes out-rebounded the visitors 45-34 (14-5 on offensive boards) and made 21-of-32 free throws to 10-of-16 for George Fox.

The Bruins held an eight-point lead of 23-15 with 9:14 left in the half after a Jack Martin three, but the Lutes got back into the game with a 7-0 run, highlighted by five points from Curtis Trondsen. PLU tied the game at 28-28 on a layup by Zachary Klein before the Bruins took a 34-31 lead at the break on an Evan Atwater three-point shot with 35 seconds left.

After PLU took a 36-34 lead on James Conti's three-point basket two minutes into the second half, the Bruins regained the lead on another three by Martin with 17:22 remaining and held it for most of the final period, but could never put the Lutes away.  The Lutes stayed within six points and managed to tie the game twice during the next 14 minutes before finally taking the lead again at 60-59 on a pair of Victor Bull free throws with 3:06 to go.

Stephen Wiseley, a nationally-ranked 90 percent free throw shooter for the Bruins, knotted the game for the last time 60-60 with a free toss at the 2:49 mark, but missed the second and the Lutes got a conventional three-point play from James Conti to take the lead for good 63-60 with 2:27 left.  A layup by Kyle MacTaggart upped the lead to five before the Bruins fought back within a point at 68-67 on two free throws by Martin with seven seconds to go. 

Trondsen knocked down a pair of foul shots with five seconds left to give the Lutes a 70-67 margin, setting the scene for one last George Fox effort to tie the game.  Instead, MacTaggart stripped the ball from Alex Stockner as he rose for a three-point shot, and the Lutes grabbed the loose ball as time expired.

George Fox had four players in double figures, led by Martin and Toedtemeier with 14 apiece.  Atwater added 12 points, boosting his career total to 1,063, and Stockner had 10.  Martin and Toedtemeier each had four three-point makes and Lingenfelder and Atwater added three more. Atwater led the team with six rebounds, and Wiseley contributed six assists.

Trondsen paced PLU with 16 points, Victor Bull added 11, and Gabe Smith and Conti scored 10 each.  Smith led all players with 12 rebounds, giving him a double-double.  Conti handed out four assists.

NOTES: #3 George Fox goes to #2 Linfield College and #4 Lewis & Clark visits #1 Whitworth University in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference Tournament Thursday, Feb. 25, with games tipping off at 7:00 p.m.  The title game, which will determine the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III National Tournament, is set for Saturday, Feb. 27, at 7:00 p.m. at the site of the highest-seeded survivor from Thursday.  George Fox is making only its second appearance in the NWC Tournament since joining the conference in 1995, having lost at Lewis & Clark in 1998.