NEWBERG, Ore. - Eric Beal scored a game-high 30 points as the 10th-ranked Whitworth University Pirates spoiled Homecoming Night for the George Fox University Bruins with a 98-88 win, their team record-extending 18th straight victory, in Northwest Conference men's basketball Saturday here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

George Fox fell to 10-11 overall and 7-5 in the conference, while Whitworth improved to 19-2 overall and 12-0 in the league.  With four games left, the Pirates are aiming to make it two straight years for the NWC champion to go undefeated, the University of Puget Sound having gone 16-0 last season.

Whitworth seized the lead early in the game by hitting its first six shots and eight of its first nine.  Beal hit two three-pointers and David Riley a jumper and a three as the Pirates established a 15-5 lead four minutes into the game.  Threes by Evan Atwater and Rich Smith book-ended a 10-4 Bruin burst that cut their deficit to 19-15, only to have the Pirates score nine unanswered points to take their largest lead of 13 points at 28-15 with 11:34 to go.

Travis Toedtemeier sank three long treys as the Bruins responded with an 11-0 run of their own, climbing within two at 28-26 with eight minutes left.  It was the Pirates' turn then to go on another 9-0 run, boosting their lead back to 11 at 37-26 with 6:23 remaining.  Alex Stockner brought the Bruins within five at 42-37 at the 1:52 mark, but the Pirates out-scored them 7-1 to end the period with a 49-38 lead.

Both teams shot well in the opening half, Whitworth hitting .567 (17-30) and 7-14 from three-point range to George Fox's .565 (13-23) and 6-10 from beyond the arc.  Beal had 15 to pace the Pirates while Smith topped the Bruins with 11.

The Pirates maintained their shooting eye early in the second half, hitting four of eight tries, including a pair of threes by Bo Gregg, while the Bruins went cold, making only two of 12 shots as the visitors opened up an 18-point lead of 64-46 with 14 minutes left in the game.  The rest of the game amounted to little more than an exchange of baskets as Whitworth kept a comfortable double-digit lead between 11 and 18 points until late in the game, when Atwater canned a three to make it 95-86 with 27 seconds left.

Smith led the Bruins with 19 points, Stockner chipped in with 15 along with a team-high eight rebounds, and Atwater and Stephen Wiseley tallied 11 apiece.  The Bruins finished with a .458 shooting percentage (27-59), were 13-29 from three-point range, and held a slight 34-33 edge on the glass.  Wiseley passed out six assists.

Four other Pirates joined Beal in the scoring column, Nate Montgomery adding 19 along with a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double, Riley 13, Gregg 11, and Felix Friedt 10.  The Pirates shot .560 (28-50) from the field for the game, including 10-22 from long distance.  Beal handed out nine assists. 

NOTES: Atwater now has 1,032 career points and moved past Curtis Kimbrough (1,023, 1983-87), Rolly Hartley (1,026, 1953-56), and Larry Jury (1,027, 1983-85) into 29th on the all-time GFU scoring list ... The men will play first and the women second in conference games during the next week as the NWC experiments with a reversal of game times for league doubleheaders ... George Fox goes on the road next weekend, starting with an 6:00 p.m. game at Willamette University Friday, followed by the women's game at 8:00 p.m. ... Whitworth hosts the University of Puget Sound Friday at 5:30 p.m., followed by the women's game at 7:30 p.m.