SPOKANE, Wash. – The Geroge Fox men's basketball team got 30 points from guard Momo Stokes, but a slow second half from the Bruins doomed them against the Whitworth Pirates in a 94-81 loss. 

How It Happened
Five minutes into the game, the Bruins found themselves up by four, 13-9, using a boost from Stokes early on to jump out to a seven-point lead two times in the first half. Fox led for the majority of the half, as the Pirates couldn't pull within two points until there was 7:26 left in the half, when they tied the game at 26 points. 

The game quickly turned into one of runs, as the Bruins went on a quick 7-2 run in response to retake a five-point lead. Five minutes later, the Pirates stormed back to take the lead for the first time since the beginning of the game, leading 38-36 with 1:43 minutes left in the first half. Whitworth ended the half with a 5-1 run, ending the half with the Bruins down, 40-37. The Bruins shot better than the Pirates from the field, shooting at a 46% clip compared to the Pirate's 44%; the Pirates outshot the Bruins from the three-point line, however, making six triples compared to the Bruins' three. 

The second half featured lights-out shooting from Whitworth, as Fox fell behind by six early on in the second half after an 8-3 Pirates run that featured another pair of Pirate triples. GFU brought it back to within two points several times in the next few minutes, but couldn't find a way to tie the game up. 

The Bruins got the closest they would get in the half when Stokes hit a layup to bring Fox to within a single point, 59-58, with 11:49 left in the half. After that moment, though, the Bruins shooting would slow, and the Pirates slowly started to edge out the Bruins. With six minutes remaining in the half, Whitworth had extended their lead to 11 after a three from the Pirate's leading scorer, Sullivan Mernard – who would finish the game with 39 points. 

Fox found themselves playing catchup for the rest of the game, just trying to get within striking distance of the Pirates. They couldn't get over the hill, falling eventually by a margin of 13. The Bruins' shooting numbers for the half weren't drastically worse than the first half (just a two percent difference from the first half to the second: 46% to 44%), but the Pirates were on fire. Whitworth shot 56% from the field in the second half, including 44% from three, which proved to be too much for the Bruins.

Top Performances 
Momo Stokes continued his run of spectacular performances, scoring 30 points while hitting four triples, and dishing a team-high three assists. James Moore shot a ludicrous 50% from three on the night, hitting five while scoring 21 points. 

What It Means
The Bruins fall to 14-9 (7-7 NWC), the loss also slides them into fourth place in the conference, the final spot in the four-seeded NWC tournament. The Pirates improve to 16-7 (12-2 NWC). 

What Comes Next
The Bruins have a quick turnaround with a game in just three days, playing Linfield in McMinnville on Tuesday, February 13th. Tip-off is at 8 pm.