FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Shooting .509 from the field and .450 from three-point range, the University of California-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs punched out the George Fox University Bruins 80-64 on the second night of the Bon Appetit / Northwest Conference Men's Basketball Tip-Off Classic Saturday here at Pacific University's Stoller Center.

The first half of the game was close throughout with three ties, eight lead changes, and no lead larger than six points for either team.  The Slugs took an early 10-5 lead on three goals by Spencer Wells and two by James Townsend four minutes into the game, and built it to 13-7 on a three-pointer by Dylan Holler with 13:54 left in the period. 

A 10-2 rally, capped by an Anthony Sanchez three, gave the Bruins their first lead of 17-15 with 11 minutes left, and they eventually took a 27-22 lead with 7:06 to go on a pair of free throws by Sean Atkins.  The Slugs came back with a 12-3 outburst, capped by a trey from Trent Reeves, to forge ahead 34-30, and clung to a 40-37 halftime lead.

A three by Jon Adrian to open the second half drew the Bruins into a 40-40 tie, and following a free throw by Wells, Atkins gave the Bruins their last lead of 42-41 with a basket.  From that point on, the game belonged to the Slugs, who shot .538 (14-26) in the second period while holding the Bruins to a .333 mark (8-24). 

Townsend hit a jumper at the 18:37 mark and added two more free throws 33 seconds later for a three-point lead, then hit a jumper and a free throw to cap a 14-3 run that gave the Slugs a double-digit lead of 55-45 with 13:12 left in the game.  Seth Brent hit a two and a three and Sanchez canned a jumper to bring the Bruins within six at 58-52 with 9:46 left, but that was as close as they would get.  A 10-0 run, sealed by a Reeves three, over the next two minutes extended the UCSC advantage to 16 points, their largest of the game, at 68-52.  The teams merely swapped points the rest of the way.

Atkins led all scorers with 20 points for the Bruins, including 12-12 from the free throw line (the Bruin record is 16-16 by Aaron Schmick at Linfield on Jan. 10, 2006).  Brent added 14 points and Sanchez scored 12.  The Bruins finished with a .388 shooting percentage (19-49), only .333 (6-18) from three-point range, but hit .833 (20-24) from the line.  Atkins grabbed a team-high six rebounds, and Spencer Bolte passed out four assists.

Austin Steadman scored 18 points on 8-11 shooting and had seven rebounds to lead the Banana Slugs, who held a 35-29 edge on the boards.  Reeves added 15 points, all on threes, Townsend scored 14, and Wells had 13.  UCSC hit 29-57 from the field, 9-20 from downtown, and .619 (13-21) from the charity stripe.  James Hidalgo handed out six assists.

NEXT: George Fox (1-1) hosts Portland Bible College Monday at 7:00 p.m. in the Bruins' last home game until Jan. 11 … Cal-Santa Cruz (1-1) visits San Jose State University Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.