IRVING, Texas. – The George Fox men's basketball team ended their winter trip to Texas dramatically, coming back from down 23 points in the second half against the University of Dallas Crusaders to send the game to overtime and win the game 83-76. 

How It Happened
The first five minutes of the game were all Crusaders, a pair of threes resulted in a 12-0 deficit for the Bruins at the 15:55 mark. The run stopped with a layup from Momo Stokes, but the Crusaders ballooned the lead to 18 minutes later, as the Bruins offense was completely stifled for the first 10 minutes. The Bruins' defense slowed the bleeding, holding many of the Crusaders' starting five in check aside from Thomas Fleming who caught fire from behind the arc in the first half, ending the half with five made threes. After the first ten minutes of action, the Bruins had yet to crack ten points of offense, losing 23-5. 

The offense for GFU was more effective for the remainder of the half, cutting the lead to 13 with six minutes left in the half after a Stokes three made the score 29-16 Crusaders. The Crusaders shooting barrage continued though, for the rest of the half, and ended the half up 23 points, 48-27. The Bruins went into the locker room looking to recoup, and find a way to complete a potential comeback amid hot shooting from Dallas. 

Whatever recouping the Bruins did in the locker room worked, as the second half was a complete reversal to the first. The Bruins defense put the pressure on UD, forcing turnovers as the offense started getting into the paint at a high clip – GFU forced 20 turnovers from the Crusaders and outscored them in paint, 42-28 for the game. A Noah Marte layup with 15:35 left in the second half cut the 23-point lead to 13, 51-38. Dallas responded with another run, pushing the lead to 19 again at 59-40 with 13 minutes left in the game. The moment was a potential break point in the contest, but Fox responded, going on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes, ending with a Jett Brinceno three that cut the lead down to nine points with nine minutes left. 

With six minutes left, the Crusaders pushed the lead back up to 12, to which Samuel Stewart IV responded with a jumper to bring the lead back down to 10, a pair of Nick Greenwood layups after brought the game within eight, the closest the game had been since four minutes into the game (when the game was 8-0). Stokes furthered his reputation for hitting clutch shots with the Bruins in the last five minutes of the contest, starting with a three to cut the lead down to five with 4:57 left in the game. Greenwood hit a jumper afterward, and a pair of Stewart free throws tied the game with  3:32 left. Free throws for the Crusaders put the Bruins behind again, down three with under two minutes in the game, 70-67. With 46 seconds left in the game, Stokes hit his next clutch bucket, lacing a triple that tied the game at 70 points apiece and completed the Bruins' comeback attempt. The two sides traded missed buckets in the final 45 seconds of regulation, sending the contest to overtime. 

In the opening seconds of overtime, Matthew Stilter hit a layup that gave the Bruins their first lead of the game, 72-70. Stokes hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to four moments later, but the Crusaders weren't going away, as they brought the Bruins lead down to one point with 1:13 left in the game, 75-74. Stokes then hit one more shot for Fox, icing the game with a layup and another jump shot moments afterward to push the lead back to three. After last-second free throws, the Bruins sealed the historic comeback with a seven-point lead, 83-76. 

Top Performances
Momo Stokes has furthered his case as one of the top players in the NWC this season, racking up his third 30-point performance of the season against Dallas, going off for 34, hitting 4-9 from beyond the arc and 6-6 from the free throw line. Samuel Stewart IV had 12 points, and seven rebounds and led the team in assists with four. Aidan Price and Nick Greenwood each added 10 points. 

Coach's Thoughts
"Simply it's about competing," Bruin head coach Maco Hamilton said, "It took us 30 minutes and several lineups to figure it out. Hopefully this is a wake up for the entire program on who we need to be!"

What It Means
While records are unclear, it is safe to say that the comeback is one of the largest in Bruins' basketball history (the biggest comeback in recent history came from a 19-point comeback on February, 3rd, 2023 against Pacific Lutheran in a game where Bruins alum Charlie Powers hit the game-winner). The win brings the Bruins to 4-5 and drops the University of Dallas to 5-5. 

What Comes Next
The Bruins will have the rest of the holiday season off coming back on January 3rd with a game at home against the Willamette Bearcats at 6 pm at the Wheeler Sports Center.