NEWBERG, Ore. – A torrid second-half stretch in which they hit 13 of 19 shots enabled Northwest Christian University to turn a five-point deficit into a 16-point lead, giving the visiting Beacons a 69-57 win over the George Fox University Bruins in a non-conference men's basketball game Saturday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

There were four ties in the first five minutes of the game, the last at 10-10 before the Bruins broke the tie on a pair of free throws by Jon Adrian at the 13:34 mark.  The home team led the rest of the half, eventually building a seven-point lead of 23-16 with 5:19 left in the period after back-to-back layups by Spencer Bolte.  Two baskets each by Trevor Parker, Greg Shepard, and Jordan Buhler helped the Beacons climb back into the game and they trailed only 33-30 at the break. 

George Fox held its first-half lead despite shooting only .379(11-29) in the half because the Bruins hit five three-point field goals to only two for the Beacons and 6-of-8 free throws to 2-of-4 for the visitors.  A.J. Grant with eight points and Mike Taylor with seven led the Bruins in scoring, while Buhler had 10 and Parker nine for the Beacons. 

A three-pointer by Grant to open the second half put George Fox up by six, and they still claimed a 42-37 lead with 15:48 to play after a layup by Taylor.  From that point on, however, the Beacons exploded, out-scoring the Bruins 32-11 and shooting .684 (13-19) over a 14-minute span to take a 69-53 lead.  The Bruins turned the ball over eight times and missed five of six free throws during that span.  Seven different players scored for the Beacons during their run, led by Parker with seven points.

Northwest Christian finished with a .586 shooting percentage (17-29) in the half and .526 (30-57) for the game.  George Fox managed only a .440 mark (11-25) in the half and .407 (22-54) for the game.  The Beacons held a 36-33 edge on the glass and made 12 turnovers to 16 for the Bruins.

Sean Atkins led the Bruins with 14 points, and Taylor and Grant scored 13 apiece.  Grant also led the way on the boards with seven.  Taylor and Adrian handed out three assists each.

Parker led all scorers with 19 points for the Beacons, while Buhler and Mitchell Wilson had 12 each and Brian Hampton scored 10.  Buhler grabbed eight rebounds.  Buhler, Shepard, Hampton, and Jordan Myers passed out a pair of assists apiece. 

NEXT: George Fox (1-3) begins Northwest Conference play next weekend, traveling to eastern Washington to play at Whitman College Saturday and Whitworth University Sunday, both at 8:00 p.m. following women's NWC games at 6:00 p.m. ... Northwest Christian (5-4) goes to Southern Oregon University for a Cascade Collegiate Conference clash Friday at 7:30 p.m.