THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — After a hard-fought first half, the George Fox men's basketball team lost to Cal Lutheran in a tough second half, 99-86. 

How It Happened
The Kingsmen were the first to show their aggression through their offense with a layup, but Sydney Natche wasn't going to keep it that way for longer. GFU was able to sneak two offensive rebounds — one from Dre Lawrence, and one from Jake Centner — out of their possession, and Natche was able to pull up for a swishing three. Cal Lutheran's offense remained explosive as they kept widening the gap in the score, but after a trey from Nico Cervantes and a smashing dunk from Natche the score was a close 9-8. 

With 15 minutes left in the half, the game became a battle between the two teams. When one team scored, the other answered back almost immediately after. For the Bruins, Noah Marte was a consistent player who put up a jumper and two arching threes; alongside Marte, Trey McDonald III got into the paint for a smooth layup, and the two juniors helped GFU take the lead, 18-16. 

With less than 10 minutes left in the first half, George Fox found their rhythm; Cervantes sustained the Bruins streak with two more treys, and along with him, Jamar Mitchell put up two stately layups, 28-20. The game became more aggressive as players on both teams were drawn to the line; Anthony Williams, Centner, and Lawrence all contributed free throws to widen the gap in the score. Finishing GFU's 17-9 streak was Marte with a pull up three to make the total 35-25. Despite the Kingsmens' attempts to retaliate in the last five minutes, the Bruins remained steady; Luke Tobin and Cervantes each drove to the hoop for a layup, and with them was Natche with two more swishing threes. After an exciting first half, the score was set in a 45-45 tie between GFU and CLU. 

Keeping his run going, Natche began the second half with an impressive dunk for George Fox. Following Natche's lead, Centner was aggressive with a jumper as well as a finishing layup; along with them, Cory Schramm got his first points of the night with a hook shot and Marte recorded another trey, 56-52. The Kingsmen battled back however, and from there, the back-and-forth on the court began again. Despite this, the Bruins aggression remained — especially after a steal from McDonald III which led to a jumper made by Mitchell. Natche and Lawrence followed up with a three and a jumper, respectively, to make the score 63-61. 

With 11 minutes left in the half, neither team was willing to let their foot off the brakes. For George Fox, Centner made a swishing trey, Lawrence put up another jumper, Mitchell got into the paint for a hook shot, and Tobin finished things off with a driving layup. While the Bruins were putting up a fight, the Kingsmen were also doing damage and snatched the lead for themselves, 81-72. After a made free throw from Natche, the game became centered on defense as less shots were being made and more players were drawn to the line.  

With four minutes left, Natche pulled up for a jumper along with Mitchell who made a jumper and went in for a smooth layup; the two were able to keep GFU's offense alive and made the score 91-79. In the final minutes, Mitchell, Williams, and Matthew Sitler were all drawn to the free throw line as they attempted to take the lead back. The game ended with a 99-86 win for the Kingsmen. 

Top Performances
Sydney Natche was a strong player for the Bruins in this game; Natche ended the night with 19 points while going 4-5 for threes and 7-13 for field goals. With 14 points each, Jamar Mitchell and Noah Marte also made a significant impact on the court. Along with his offense, Mitchell also led the team in rebounds with seven and was followed by Vanndon Heard and Cory Schramm with five each. For assists, Dre Lawrence led with seven while also recording two steals. On the defensive side of things, Heard achieved the most blocks with a total of three. 

What It Means
Cal Lutheran rises to 4-2, and George Fox falls to 1-4. 

What Happens Next
The Bruins will remain in Thousand Oaks, Calif. for their game against NYU on Saturday, November 29. Tip off against the Violets is set for 5:00 pm.