NEWBERG, Ore. – Anthony Sanchez scored a team-high 17 points, sinking a critical three-point field goal in the final minute, as the George Fox University Bruins edged the University of Puget Sound Loggers 77-74 Friday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym and maintained a share of second place in the Northwest Conference men's basketball race.

George Fox climbed to 8-6 overall and 4-2 in the conference, good for second in the standings behind No. 4-ranked Whitworth University, which knocked Willamette University out of tie a for second with the Bruins with an 88-69 victory in Spokane, Wash.  Lewis & Clark College, which defeated Pacific Lutheran University 71-59 at home to go to 5-3 in the NWC, is tied for second with George Fox, though the Bruins have a better winning percentage (.667 to .625).  Puget Sound, meanwhile, lost its third in a row to slip further into the league cellar at 6-10 overall and 1-6 in the NWC.

The game opened slowly as George Fox missed its first four shots while Puget Sound missed three and committed a turnover.  Rex Holmes finally scored a layup for the Loggers just over two minutes into the game, but the Bruins responded with a layup by Jon Adrian, a three-point play by Sanchez, and another driving bucket by Sanchez that made it 7-2 with 15:48 to play in the half.  The Bruins remained in front for most of the half but could build no lead larger than six points which they did twice, the last at 22-16 with 6:51 left on a putback by Josh Garlington.

A 9-2 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes enabled the Loggers to take their second lead, two free throws and a three-pointer by Dan Cheledinas starting the comeback and Rex Nelson finishing it with a layup and two free throws, the last at 3:31 to make it 25-24 UPS.  The Bruins held the lead one more time at 28-27 following a Seth Brent three at the 2:11 mark, but the Loggers regained the advantage on back-to-back layups by Riggs Yarbro and Holmes.  A.J. Grant knotted the game 31-31 at the break when he sank three free throws after being fouled on a long attempt with 21 seconds left.

A layup by Adrian and a three by Sanchez to open the second half gave the Bruins a 36-31 lead and they never trailed again.  The George Fox lead reached eight four times in the second half, and when Garlington hit another rebound basket for a 64-56 lead with just under four minutes left, the Bruins appeared to have the game in hand - but the Loggers refused to go away. 

Six points by Yarbro (two free throws and two layups) and five by Cheledinas (a three-point play and two more free tosses) fueled an 11-5 UPS rally that cut the gap to two at 69-67 with 1:18 left.  With the Loggers breathing down their necks, the Bruins got a clutch three from Sanchez with 52 seconds left and three free throws by Garlington to rebuild an eight-point bulge of 75-67 with 27 seconds left.  Holmes hit a jumper with 20 seconds left, but Grant pushed the margin back to eight with two free tosses with 13 ticks to go.  That was just enough to hold off a quick layup by Holmes with nine seconds left and a desperation three by A.J. Maw at the buzzer following a Bruin turnover with two seconds to play.

Joining Sanchez in the scoring department for the Bruins were Grant with 14 points and Sean Atkins with 11, nine in the second half.  Garlington just missed his first double-double with nine points and a team-leading 10 rebounds.  Atkins added five assists and three blocked shots, and Jason Martin made a pair of steals.

Holmes led all scorers with 21 points for the Loggers, while Yarbro had a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds and Cheledinas scored 16.  Holmes and Maw each handed out three assists, and Holmes made three steals.

NEXT: George Fox hosts Pacific Lutheran while Puget Sound goes to Pacific University for conference games Saturday, both starting at 8:00 p.m.  Each men's game will be preceded by NWC women's games at 6:00 p.m.