Photo Taken By: Jake Ryan

NEWBERG, Ore. --- The George Fox men's basketball team hosted the Kingsmen of California Lutheran University, Saturday night, as the Bruins fell in a close one, 91-83.

Recap:
The game started out slower than expected, as both teams went cold from the field in the first two minutes. Willie Perkins broke the silence at the 18:20 mark for the Bruins with a nice floater inside the paint. The Kingsmen answered, though, finding their voice a couple minutes later with a small run to go up, 10-6. Thomas Rico splashed a deep three at the 13:14 mark to put the Bruins within one at 10-9.

After the Rico three, the game felt sluggish despite the pressure put on by the Bruins. The Kingsmen sustained their lead for the next five minutes, and it seemed as if both teams would trade baskets until half. Bruin Johnathan Doutt was a breath of fresh air off the bench, as the junior guard hit three consecutive 3-point shots to put the Bruins up by three, 28-25. With newfound life, the Bruins continued to pour it on from beyond the arc, as Joshua Caddel and Jad Darger got in on the action. George Fox closed out the half on a Chris Fedler three to go into the break up by three, 44-41.

The Bruins shot 42.1 percent from the 3-point line (8-19), while CLU gained the advantage at 46.2 percent (6-13).

The second half was a heavy weight bout, as both teams traded points for the entire 20 minutes. Caddel continued his hot shooting from the first half into the second, as the senior hit back-to-back threes to put the Bruins up by three, 61-58, with 12 minutes left. Fans watched as each possession started to grow with tension from either side.

The Kingsmen made a couple late layups to increase their lead to eight, and the Bruins were forced to start fouling.

CLU was led by Wolfgang Wood, who went 15-22 from the field and 6-10 from the line for 36 points.

Top Performers:
Rico led the Bruins with 17 points and five assists. Perkins almost recorded a triple-double, as the sophomore recorded seven points, seven rebounds and nine assists. He also tallied four steals in his 30 minutes of play. Caddel was a huge spark off the bench for the Bruins, going 4-5 from beyond the arc for 12 points. Of the 83 points by the Bruins, 43 of them came from the bench.

What It Means:
The loss puts the Bruins at 1-2 on the season, but gets them ready for conference play.

What Comes Next:
George Fox will kick off the Northwest Conference season Friday, Dec. 2 at 8p.m. against Pacific at home.