After spotting the Missionaries an early 10-4 lead, the Bruins bounced back with a 15-7 run and took a 19-17 lead on a three-pointer by Nate Mansfield with 11:06 left in the half. The home team would not trail again in the period and took a 42-38 lead into halftime, in large part due to the efforts of Parker, who replaced foul-plagued Scott Szalay. The Bruins’ center, who had posted double-doubles in points and rebounds in each of the team’s first four games, picked up two quick fouls and eventually finished with only 5 points and 5 boards in 17 minutes. Parker’s 11 first-half points on 5-6 from the field plus a free throw more than picked up the slack.
The lead might have been larger had not the Missionaries’ Ian Warner launched a shot from just across mid-court that banked into the net as the clock expired. With that momentum-shifter in mind, the Missionaries opened the second half with a 16-8 run, capped by a Chris Faidley jumper, that put them on top 54-50 with 13:55 left in the game. The Bruins battled back to tie and then take a 61-58 lead at 10:51 on a pair of threes by Phil Heu-Weller.
The game was knotted for the last time at 64-64 when Parker broke the tie for good with a layup with 7:10 to play. Two free throws by Parker and a driving layup by Brady Strutz made it 70-64 George Fox with 5:18 left, and the Missionaries resorted to fouling in the final five minutes. The Bruins foiled the strategy by making 11 of 14 while holding the Missionaries to 1-for-5 shooting and only two points on a pair of Faidley free throws in that span.
Parker’s 20 points came on a 7-8 game from the field and 6-7 from the line, tying his career high. Heu-Weller and Ben Melvin added 13 apiece, while Aaron Schmick and Brent Satern each had 11. Satern handed out 9 assists. Schmick and Strutz grabbed 7 rebounds apiece.
Faidley also scored 20 points to pace the Missionaries, while Erik Kofler added 15 and a game-high 8 rebounds, and Matt Kelly scored 14. Warner and Greg Ricker had 3 assists each.
George Fox improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference, while Whitman slipped to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the league. The Bruins have a rematch Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at home with Corban College, which handed them their only loss of the season 108-100 on Nov. 22. The Missionaries visit Warner Pacific College in Portland next Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Whitman vs George Fox
12/03/05 6:00 pm at Newberg, Oregon
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VISITORS: Whitman 3-2, NWC 1-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
30 Kelly, Matt......... f 7-16 0-4 0-0 0 3 3 4 14 0 2 1 0 33
33 Hazel, Aaron........ f 2-4 0-1 3-6 2 3 5 4 7 0 3 0 0 12
44 Kofler, Erik........ c 4-14 2-6 5-8 2 6 8 3 15 0 1 2 1 31
10 Ricker, Greg........ g 1-4 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 5 2 3 2 0 0 28
20 Warner, Ian......... g 2-4 2-3 0-0 2 1 3 5 6 3 2 0 0 25
11 Faidley, Chris...... 6-10 1-3 7-8 2 4 6 4 20 1 2 0 1 31
22 Brandal, Garth...... 2-5 0-1 0-0 3 3 6 0 4 1 0 0 0 22
23 Ziegler, Brendan.... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6
32 Bird, Wes........... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
50 Piper, Keefe........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10
Team................ 3 3 6
Totals.............. 24-59 5-21 15-22 14 24 38 25 68 8 13 3 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-34 41.2% 2nd Half: 10-25 40.0% Game: 40.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-11 36.4% 2nd Half: 1-10 10.0% Game: 23.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 9-14 64.3% Game: 68.2% 2
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HOME TEAM: George Fox 4-1, NWC 2-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
20 Melvin, Ben......... f 4-4 1-1 4-6 1 0 1 0 13 2 2 0 0 30
23 Heu-Weller, Phil.... f 5-13 3-7 0-0 2 2 4 5 13 0 0 0 0 18
42 Szalay, Scott....... c 2-5 0-0 1-2 1 4 5 4 5 1 3 1 0 17
05 Schmick, Aaron...... g 2-6 1-4 6-6 0 7 7 1 11 4 2 0 0 31
24 Satern, Brent....... g 3-8 3-5 2-4 0 1 1 0 11 9 0 0 0 34
03 Mansfield, Nate..... 1-4 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 19
31 Strutz, Brady....... 2-4 0-1 1-2 1 6 7 3 5 1 1 2 1 26
33 Parker, Chris....... 7-8 0-0 6-7 0 3 3 4 20 1 2 0 0 25
Team................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 26-52 9-21 20-27 7 26 33 17 81 19 10 3 1 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-33 51.5% 2nd Half: 9-19 47.4% Game: 50.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-11 45.5% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 42.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-3 100 % 2nd Half: 17-24 70.8% Game: 74.1% 2
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Officials: Eric Wilkins, Mike Warmanen, Tracy Harris
Technical fouls: Whitman-None. George Fox-None.
Attendance: 600
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Whitman....................... 38 30 - 68
George Fox.................... 42 39 - 81