PORTLAND, Ore. - Stung by a blistering-hot shooting pace of 70 per cent in the first half by Concordia University-Portland, the George Fox University Bruins fell behind early and dropped their 2011-12 season opener on the road to the Cavaliers 88-70 in a non-conference men's basketball contest Friday night here at the Cavalier Gym.

Concordia scored the first four points on baskets by Kevan West and Adam Herman and never trailed, but Sean Atkins hit a three-pointer and a baseline jumper to keep the Bruins close at 6-5 just under three minutes into the game.  The Cavaliers exploded for a 17-2 run over the next five minutes, however, effectively seizing control as their lead swelled to 23-7 following a three from the right wing by Drew Preuninger. 

Scoring consistently in close against the smaller Bruins, the Cavs extended their lead to 29 twice in the half, the last at 45-16 on a driving layup by Anthony Holton.  A 9-5 run over the last four minutes of the period enabled the Bruins to trim the deficit to 50-25 at halftime.

The Cavs finished the first half hitting 21 of 30 shots, 14 of them layups, drives, and jumpers in the lane.  The Bruins managed only a .308 percentage, making eight of 26 attempts.  The Cavs also doubled the Bruins in rebounds, 20-10.  Herman and West led Concordia with 10 points apiece, while A.J. Grant had eight for the Bruins and Atkins seven.

Concordia opened the second half by scoring three straight buckets on two layups by Herman and a dunk by West to take their largest lead of 56-25, and remained comfortably ahead the rest of the way, though the Cavs cooled off shooting-wise to a more reasonable .484 mark (15-31).  The Bruins improved to .421 (16-38) in the second half, and out-scored the Cavs in the period 45-38.  The closest they got was within 18 at 81-63 on a trey from the right by Anthony Sanchez with 3:49 left, and again with the final score of a pair of free throws by Cole Ramey with 35 seconds left.

Sanchez led the Bruins with 18 points and Spencer Bolte came off the bench to toss in 11.  Atkins and Mike Taylor added nine points each.  Sanchez, Bolte, and Cam Rier grabbed four rebounds apiece, and Corey Clark handed out five assists.  The Bruins ended with a .375 shooting mark (24-64), including a .324 percentage (11-34) from three-point range, and were out-rebounded 40-33.

Herman, the NAIA national leader in field goal percentage last year with a .641 percentage, picked up where he left off by hitting all nine of his shot attempts en route to a game-high 21 points.  West added 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and Jourdan Sweeney scored 11.  Five Cavs - Herman, West, Sweeney, Daniel Leflore and Kory Kirwan - had five rebounds each, and Gage Aker passed out five assists.  The Cavs' final shooting percentage was .590 (36-61), with a .500 mark (6-12) from long distance. 

NEXT: George Fox (0-1) plays its home opener Saturday at 8:00 p.m. against Northwest University (Wash.), another Cascade Conference opponent which is 6-0 on the season.  The game will be preceded by a 6:00 clash between the George Fox and Northwest women's teams ... Concordia (3-0) visits Linfield College Saturday for an 8:00 p.m. tipoff.