PORTLAND Ore. – Sean Atkins scored 27 points to move within 10 of 1,000 for his George Fox University career, but Randall Jackson's only basket of the game with 13 seconds left gave the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers a 79-78 win over the Bruins in Northwest Conference men's basketball action Friday night here at the Pamplin Sports Center.

The Pioneers prevailed in a battle of the conference's two top-scoring teams, each averaging over 90 points a game coming in.  George Fox is now 8-4, 1-2 in the NWC, while Lewis & Clark is 9-3,  2-1 in the league.

Lewis & Clark scored the first six points on a free throw and layup by Conner Freeberg and a three-pointer by Quentin Sims before A.J. Grant finally put the Bruins on the board with a jumper from the right corner at the 17:32 mark.  The Pios threatened to run away with it as they extended the lead to 11 at 17-6 with 12:54 left in the half, Freeburg pacing the Pios' 11-3 run with another layup and three free throws.

Jonny Howard's three from the left wing, a jumper along the right baseline by Atkins, and a trey by Grant from the top of the circle pulled the Bruins within three at 17-14 with 12:02 left, igniting a Bruin outburst in which they out-scored the Pios 38-13 over a 12-minute span.  Atkins scored eight points in a row on a driving layup, four free throws, and a fadeaway that gave the Bruins a 26-22 lead at the 7:10 mark, and they took their biggest lead of 14 points at 44-30 with 1:04 left on a free toss by Spencer Bolte.  A three-point play with four seconds left by the Pios' Bradley Carter made it 44-33 Bruins at the half.

With Justin Leathers scoring seven points on a dunk, a three-point play, and two more free throws, the Pios opened the second half with a 14-5 run to close with two at 49-47.  Grant connected on three two-pointers and a triple from the right wing in first seven minutes of the final stanza to keep the Bruins in front for a while, but the Pios eventually tied it 61-61 on two free throws by Freeberg and went ahead 63-61 on a tip-in by Kurt Parker with 10:06 to play. 

From that point on, the game shifted back and forth.  A three-point play and a drive by Bolte put the Bruins back up 67-63 with 8:45 left, but the Pios answered with an 11-4 run, capped by a Parker steal and layup, to go ahead 74-71 with 4:34 to go.  Atkins, in the midst of scoring 10 straight points for the Bruins, twice moved George Fox ahead, the last time at 77-76 with 2:09 left, but Freeberg tied with a free throw at 1:03.  Grant made the front end of a one-and-one with 34 ticks remaining before Jackson banked in a short jumper from the left side of the lane to give the Pios the lead for good.  Grant's jumper from the right side of the lane for the win bounced off the front of the rim, and Jackson grabbed the rebound as time expired.

George Fox shot .429 (27-63) while Lewis & Clark managed a .474 mark (27-57).  Both teams came in averaging over 10 threes a game, but the Bruins made only 6-23 (.261) to 4-17 (.235) for the Pios.  With 45 fouls whistled, the Bruins were 18-25 (.720) from the line, while the Pios were 21-36 (.583).

Atkins, who made 11-12 free throws, had a double-double with 14 rebounds and was joined in the Bruins' scoring column by Grant with 15 and Bolte with 10.  Howard handed out three assists, Cole Larson blocked two shots, and Atkins, Grant, and Howard each made two steals.

Freeberg also had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Pios out-boarded the Bruins 44-34.  Leathers chipped in with 18 points, Jackson passed out four assists, and Greeberg made three steals.

NEXT: George Fox starts a three-game home stand Saturday vs. Pacific University, tipping off at 8:00 p.m.  The women's game between the Bruins and Boxers will precede the men's game at 6:00 p.m. … Lewis & Clark visits Linfield College Saturday for an NWC twinbill, with games at 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.