Photo courtesy of Whitworth Sports Info

SPOKANE --- The George Fox men's basketball team wrapped up its opening weekend with a tough test against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at the Whitworth Tip-Off Classic, falling 80-72 in the neutral-site contest.

Recap

The Bruins grabbed a brief lead in the early minutes after a trey from Kalu Stricklin and layups by Ryan Lacey and Emilio Mancol gave the Bruins a 7-4 advantage, but the Stags charged back in front to take the lead for good with 14 minutes left in the first half.

CMS swelled its lead to ten points, 17-7, with just under 12 minutes left before the break, but a triple from Levin Dalzell and a jumper from Jackson Januick whittled away at the lead. The Bruins put together stops and made shots in the closing minutes to surge back into contention and trailed 43-36 at the break after a last-second triple from the Stags found the bottom of the net.

The Stags came out of the locker room and immediately widened the gap with a 9-4 burst that gave CMS a 52-40 lead with 16 minutes left in the game. Buckets from Januik, JD Ahlstrom, Michael Mercado-Smith, and Wesley Reynolds gave the Bruins a brief edge with a 56-54 lead and 10 minutes showing on the clock, but the Stags surged back in front again.

A Lacey trey gave the Bruins the lead again a few moments later with six minutes left, but the Stags answered again with a layup. After tying the game at 63-all with five minutes left, CMS powered through the closing minutes on a 17-9 run for the 80-72 final and the victory.

Top Performers

Lacey led the team once again, recording 14 points on a tough shooting night. Mancol brought some spark off the bench with 13 points and Jackson finished with 10 points, seven boards, and four dimes.

What It Means

The Bruins fall to 1-1 on the season after two good outings in Spokane.

What Happens Next

The Bruins return to Newberg and will face Colorado College on Friday, Nov. 15, at 7:00 pm.