NEWBERG, Ore. -- The George Fox men's basketball team wrapped up its stretch of three games in five days with a loss to the Pacific Lutheran Lutes, 96-70.

How It Happened
Fox began the game strong, with Sydney Natche responsible for the first six points of the game. The freshman had a backdoor cut for a layup before hitting another in the paint. The next time down, Natche found Jake Centner for another easy layup to put Fox up 6-0, resulting in a quick PLU timeout. 

Pacific Lutheran came out of the halftime break strong with a 6-0 run of their own, but a thunderous Centner block, a nifty Anthony Williams move inside, and a Jamar Mitchell fastbreak layup kept Fox ahead. PLU took their first lead of the game with a pair of free throws, but the Bruins fought back with a Vanndon Heard lay-in and a triple from Donovan Cooks to tie the score at 15. 

An 8-0 run by the Lutes put the Bruins behind, and Fox shifted from trading the lead to clinging to a double-digit deficit. Cooks and Matthew Sitler each hit a shot from behind the arc to keep things close, while Trey McDonald III had four straight points. Though the Bruins cut the lead to nine, seven straight points from the Lutes — including a deep triple from PLU's Ben Tellez put Fox down 16 at the half, 51-35.

The Bruins started the second half aggressively, with Natche drawing a foul and hitting two free throws and Cory Schramm nailing a corner triple. Despite this, the Lutes extended their lead to 20 points early in the second half. Quickly, Fox responded with a seven-point run from the home team to get the crowd back into the game — Mitchell scored four straight points before Cooks hit a triple to cut the deficit to 13.

However, just as soon as the Bruins inched their way back into the game, PLU slammed the door shut, using an unlikely player to do so. The Lutes' Zach Zuckerman entered the game with just nine collegiate points and an overall 1-12 performance from deep in his career. The sophomore would score 17 in the game (14 of which came in the second half), including a 5-6 clip from beyond the arc. With Zuckerman catching fire, Fox's deficit ballooned from 13 to 30.

Despite the deficit, the Bruins continued to fight to close the game. Mitchell had a pair of layups, while Lawrence went coast-to-coast for a solid fastbreak finish. Williams and Rylan Nelson ended the game with buckets as GFU dropped the game, 96-70.

Top Performances
Donovan Cooks led the way with 15 points, while Sydney Natche and Jamar Mitchell had 12 apiece. Matthew Sitler finished with a career-high five points. In addition to his 12 points, Mitchell led the team with five rebounds as well.

What It Means
The Bruins fall to 2-18 (1-10 NWC), while the Lutes move to 10-9 (4-6 NWC). 

What Happens Next 
Fox will be back in action next week, staying at home to face the Lewis & Clark River Otters (10-9, 6-4 NWC) on Saturday, February 7. The game is scheduled to start at 5:00 pm.