LA VERNE, Calif. --- The George Fox men's basketball team took to the road for a three-game swing in Southern California and started its trip with a 26-point win against the University of La Verne Leopards.
How It Happened
George Fox roared out to a 14-2 lead with aggressive defense and shot-making by Zac Schmerber, Zach Sly, and Brendan Ritschard. The Leopards trimmed the lead to three, 23-20, with 10:35 left in the first half, but Fox pulled away again to an eight-point lead over the following four minutes of action.
Back-to-back treys from Momo Stokes and James Moore gave the Bruins a 14-lead with four minutes to go in the opener, and Fox was able to cruise to a 46-34 lead at the break with a last-second layup by Austin Clark.
Out of the break, Davon Walker went on a solo 5-0 run to push the score to 51-36 and the team kept its foot on the gas pedal for the first ten minutes of the second half.
Midway through the second half of action, the Bruins' lead held steady at 13 points, 67-54, after a layup from Kalu Stricklin.
A four-point play from Schmerber gave the Bruins their largest lead of the night at the time, 19 points, with an 81-62 margin and 6:43 left to play. Coach Maco Hamilton emptied the bench in the closing moments and gave all 18 Bruins a chance to see the court in what became a 99-73 blowout by the final buzzer.
Top Performers
Schmerber had a career night with 25 points on a perfect shooting night - 8-8 from the field, 5-5 from deep, and 4-4 from the charity stripe - to lead all scorers. Stokes chipped in 13 off the bench, Walker tallied 12, and Sly added 10 as a reserve. Sly also led the team with seven boards, and Ritschard topped the squad in assists (4) and steals (2).
Coach's Thoughts
"It was great to have our team back to full strength after a couple weeks with some of our guys being out," said coach Hamilton. "I thought we were able to play at our tempo and pace. We used a lot of bodies which was good, and we played spirited basketball tonight. It's a good start to the week."
What It Means
Fox improves to .500 on the year at 4-4 and drops La Verne to 2-7. The win also gives the Bruins a 3-2 edge in the all-time series.
Up Next
The Bruins will be back on the court tomorrow afternoon against Whittier at the Poets' home gym at 2:00 pm.
