EUGENE, Ore. – Sean Atkins scored eight unanswered points to start a 21-8 George Fox University rally that lifted the Bruins from seven points down with less than nine minutes to play to a 63-60 road win over the Northwest Christian University Beacons in a non-conference men's basketball game Tuesday night here at the Morse Event Center.

George Fox used a balanced offense that saw four players score in double figures and a fifth just miss the mark in running its record to 4-3 for the season.  Northwest Christian, meanwhile, fell to 7-5 on the year.

The Beacons came out of the blocks sizzling, hitting five of their first six shots on the way to an 11-3 lead five minutes into the game.  A layup by the Bruins' Anthony Sanchez and a three-pointer by Jon Adrian slowed the Beacons for a while, but the home team regained its eight-point bulge at 17-9 on a rebound basket by Gio Guzman with 10:50 to play in the half.

A layup by Spencer Bolte and threes by Jason Martin and A.J. Grant knotted the game for the first time 17-17 with seven minutes left, and the game remained tight all the way to halftime.  Adrian gave the Bruins a three-point lead of 24-21 with 1:49 remaining with another long-range bomb, but Trevor Parker answered with a trey for the Beacons, and Jordan Myers' free throw with 11 seconds left made it 25-24 NWCU at the break.

The Beacons maintained a lead for the first nine minutes of the second half, extending it to six points twice, the last at 35-29 on a layup by Travis Pacos at the 15:43 mark.  The Bruins briefly regained the lead 40-39 on a Sanchez bucket with 10:52 left, but the Beacons responded with an 8-0 run, capped by a three-pointer and a free throw by Brody McGowan, that gave the home team a 47-40 advantage with 9:05 to go.

Atkins, the Bruins' leading scorer coming in at 18.6 points a game, had been held to only three points until that moment, but came alive when he was needed the most.  In the space of 105 seconds, he made a steal and three-pointer, a conventional three-point play, and a layup off a feed from Martin to put the Bruins on top 48-47.  McGowan's layin returned the edge to the Beacons, but Bolte put the Bruins in front for good with a layup that made it 50-49 with 6:35 to play. 

A drive by Grant extended the Bruins' lead, and they responded to every challenge thereafter from the Beacons, eventually building a six-point lead when Grant nailed a three for a 61-55 advantage with 22 seconds left.  Sanchez iced the win with a pair of charity tosses with 11 seconds to go, off-setting two freebies by Parker with three seconds showing.

Sanchez led the Bruins with 12 points, Atkins and Grant had 11 each, and Adrian tossed in 10, with Seth Brent scoring eight points along with a team-high eight rebounds.  Adrian was 4-of-5 from the field and Brent 4-of-6.  Sanchez passed out four assists and Martin made three steals.

For the Beacons, Parker scored a game-high 19 points and McGowan added 11.  Jordan Buhler had eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds as NWCU held a 37-28 margin on the boards.  Myers had three assists and Buhler blocked three shots.

NEXT: George Fox visits Corban University Friday for another non-conference game against an NAIA and Cascade Collegiate Conference foe ... Northwest Christian hosts the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Thursday at 7:30 p.m.