McMINNVILLE, Ore. --- George Fox fell behind early and fought hard the rest of the way, but an unanswered Wildcat run in the opening minutes proved too much to overcome in an 85-66 loss.

How It Happened

The two teams started out knotted at 4-4 after the first two minutes, but the Bruins went cold for the next nine minutes of game action and Linfield reeled off an 18-3 run. Fox snapped the run with a jumper from Zac Schmerber with 11 minutes to play and was able to match the Wildcats shot for shot from that point on, but the gap was too wide at that point to overcome.

The Bruins were able to trim the Wildcats' lead to eight in the second half and fought back each time Linfield widened the gap again, but Fox was unable to hold onto its momentum each time it answered a Wildcat run in the loss.

Top Performances

Kalu Stricklin led with 13 points, Schmerber chipped in 12, and Brendan Ritschard sniffed a double-double with eight points and a team-high seven rebounds.

What It Means

The Bruins fall to 10-12 on the year and are 5-8 in NWC action with three games left in the regular season. While they're not mathematically eliminated from the NWC Tournament, the Bruins will need help to climb into fourth with only three games left.

Up Next

Fox returns to host Willamette on Saturday, Feb. 12, for Senior Night with a 6:00 pm tip. The Bruins will honor their five seniors before tipoff, so be sure to arrive early if you plan to attend in person.