by Jared Beilby, Student Intern

NEWBERG, ORE. – After a back-and-forth beginning to the first half, the Whitman College Missionaries pulled away late in the first half and went on to defeat the George Fox University Bruins 93-69 in a men's Northwest Conference battle here at the Miller Gym inside of Wheeler Sports Center on Saturday night.

George Fox fell to 10-5 overall and 3-3 in conference, while Whitman improved to 10-5 and sits with a 5-1 conference mark, good enough for first place. The Missionaries were led by sophomore Philip Chircu's 22 points with 5-6 (83.3%) shooting from behind the arc. George Fox played without leading scorer and senior Sean Atkins, who missed the game after breaking his nose in the first half of Friday's win against Whitworth.        

The early going was all Whitman as they started the game on a 13-4 run, with sophomores Tochi Oti and Chircu combining for all of the Missionaries' opening points. The Bruins eventually made the score 18-14 with 13:51 left in the first half after junior A.J. Grant hit a pair of three-pointers.  Freshman J.J. Lacey brought the Bruins to within a basket on the next possession with a pull-up jumper. One possession later, senior Jason Martin nailed a three to give the Bruins their first lead at 19-18 with 12:30 remaining in the half.

The George Fox lead grew to as many as six when Grant hit from deep at the 9:30 mark, making the score 25-19 Bruins. Whitman junior Dominic Lippi, however, hit a trey two minutes later to give Whitman a 29-28 lead. Junior Jonny Howard responded immediately with a layup, giving George Fox a 30-29 advantage with 7:13 left in the half. The rest of the half was dominated by Whitman, which went on a 19-2 run to close the period with a 48-32 lead. Chircu (14 points) and junior Matt Mounier (13 points) paced Whitman in the first half.

Martin hit a pair of threes early in the second half to trim the Missionary lead to 55-42. Any hope of a Bruin comeback was put rest, though, as the Missionaries scored seven straight to go up 62-42 at the 15:15 mark. The Missionary lead reached 31 when sophomore Evan Martin hit a three-pointer with 8:55 left, putting Whitman up 81-50. The Bruins never got closer than 24 the rest of the way and the game finished 93-69 in favor of the Missionaries. Whitman outscored George Fox 45-37 in the second half.

Howard led the Bruins with 16 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Grant scored 13 of his own, but he was held scoreless for the final 29 minutes of the game. Jason Martin went a perfect 3-3 from deep to finish the game with nine points. Seniors Seth Brent and Cole Larson each pulled down four boards for a team high. The Bruins shot 27-46 (58.7%) as a team and 8-14 (57.1%) from the line, but the story of their loss was turnovers as they gave the ball up 28 times to the Missionaries' 21. The Bruins shot 7-15 (46.7%) from long range.

Besides Chircu's 22-point night, the Missionaries were guided by Mounier's 18 points and six assists. Senior LuQuam Thompson scored 11 points and Ochi registered 10.  Martin finished with a game-high eight rebounds. Combined, Whitman went 30-51 (58.8%) from the field and 19-22 (86.4%) on free throws. They were a solid 14-26 (53.8%) from behind the arc and out-rebounded the Bruins 25-19.

NEXT: George Fox travels to Willamette University on Friday, Jan. 24, for an 8 p.m. tipoff in Salem. The women's game starts at 6 p.m. … Whitman ventures back home to Walla Walla, Wash., and will host Whitworth at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The women will tip off at 6 p.m.