SPOKANE, Wash. – Holding a three-point lead over No. 1-ranked Whitworth University at the half, the George Fox University Bruins could not keep up the momentum and succumbed to the power-packed Pirates in the second half, falling 89-66 in Northwest Conference men's basketball Saturday night here at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

George Fox dropped to 7-16 overall and 5-9 in the conference with its 12th straight loss to Whitworth, which remained the only unbeaten NCAA Division III team in the nation at 23-0.  The Pirates have already clinched the NWC title and the home court for all NWC Tournament games at 14-0.   

The first half was a battle royale before a crowd of almost 2,000 as the upset-minded Davids from George Fox went toe-to-toe with the Goliaths of the NWC.  There were five ties and 10 lead changes during the first 20 minutes, the biggest lead of the half being the Bruins' six-point advantage of 31-25 with 6:19 left.  Whitworth held an early 7-2 lead two-and-a-half-minutes in before the Bruins came back and kept a slim lead for most of the period.  It was only the second time all season the Pirates have trailed at the half.

Point guard Stephen Wiseley was the catalyst for the visitors in the first half, scoring a whopping 18 points on 5-8 field goals, including 3-4 on three-pointers, and 5-7 free throws.  He was countered by the Pirates' Division I transfer, Mike Taylor, who led the home crew with 10 points, and post player Felix Friedt, who had nine points, hitting 7-8 from the line, at the break.

Whitworth began to assert itself as the second half opened, Taylor hitting a jumper and subsequent free throw to tie the game and Wade Gebbers nailing a layup and two free throws in a 9-2 run that put the Pirates in front 49-45 just over two minutes in.  The Bruins got into serious trouble, however, when Wiseley picked up his fourth foul moments later and had to go to the bench, eventually fouling out with 12:23 to go after playing only four minutes in the second half with no more points. 

With the Bruins' biggest offensive threat of the night gone, the Pirates pulled away.  From the start of the half until Taylor hit a long-distance three at the 6:11 mark, Whitworth out-scored George Fox 36-9 to build a 76-52 lead.  While Taylor added 11 second-half points, the biggest headache for the Bruins was Gebbers, who poured in all 20 of his points in the game in the final period, hitting 7-10 field goals and 4-5 threes in that time.

Cole Whitehurst added 15 points to Wiseley's 18 for the Bruins, whose own Mike Taylor scored nine and had a team-high nine rebounds.  Whitehurst and Taylor each had two assists.  George Fox shot .389 (21-54) from the field, .421 (8-19) on threes, and .615 (16-26) from the line.

Taylor's 21 and Gebbers' 20 paced the Pirates, who also got 11 from Friedt and Jack Loofburrow and 10 from Clay Gebbers.  Loofburrow had a double-double by hauling in 14 rebounds, leading the Pirates to a 42-35 advantage on the backboards.  Clay Gebbers handed out four assists.  Whitworth connected on 29-63 (.460) from the floor, .385 (10-26) from beyond the arc, and .700 (21-30) from the stripe.

NEXT: George Fox visits Yamhill County rival Linfield College Friday while Whitworth travels to Whitman College Tuesday to start the final week of the regular season, both tipping off at 8:00 p.m. following NWC women's games at 6:00 p.m.