Box Score

TACOMA, Wash. --- The George Fox men's basketball team faced off against Pacific Lutheran and rallied from a large halftime deficit to force overtime before falling to the Lutes, 67-66.

How It Happened

Pacific Lutheran was able to establish the pace and dictate terms in the first half, building a 34-19 lead after the opening 20 minutes of action. Fox fought back in the second half and was able to outscore the Lutes, 44-29, in a back-and-forth battle for control of the game.

The Bruins tied the game with two minutes left at 54-54 on a three on the right wing from James Moore. With under a minute to go, an and-one jumper and free throw from Zac Schmerber tied the game again at 59-59. A Lutes timeout led to a driving layup for PLU but Davon Walker was able to draw contact twice on drives down the lane and hit all four of his foul shots to force overtime with a 63-63 score at the end of regulation.

Tired legs made buckets hard to come by for both teams in the second half as the two sides combined for just seven total points in the extra five minutes. The Lutes took a slim lead, 66-67, with under a minute to play and the Bruins had three great looks at game-winning shots in the last seconds but could not get the shots to fall in the end after a great effort to battle back from down fifteen at halftime.

Top Performances

Schmerber led the way again for Fox with 16 points on 5-11 shooting from the field. Walker was 6-6 from the foul line and dished a game-high six assists, and Kalu Stricklin topped the team with seven rebounds and two steals.

Coach's Thoughts

"My pride in and respect for these young men grows each and every day," Coach Maco Hamilton said after the game. "It makes tough losses like tonight so much easier to bear knowing that I get to work with them tomorrow and continue on this journey of growing together. We're not going anywhere and we're going to continue to push for greatness as we head into the second cycle of conference play."

What It Means

The Bruins have lost two heart-breakers in a row by a total of three points to fall to 4-4 in Northwest Conference play this season, but they have shown they can hang in with the top-tier teams in the conference.

Up Next

Fox finishes a three-game week with a home game against Puget Sound on Friday and a short road trip to Forest Grove on Saturday to play Pacific (Ore.).