Both teams struggled to mount a consistent offense until late in the first half. The Pirates, who led the entire period, held an 18-12 lead after 17 minutes of play, but each team scored seven points in the final three minutes. Whitworth hit only .385 (10-26) in the half, but the Bruins struggled even more, making only .278 (5-18). Jon Young had 9 points, all on threes, to lead the Pirates, while Philip Heu-Weller’s 11 kept the Bruins in the game.
The Bruins slowly fought back in the second half and took their first lead of the game at 36-35 on a Mark Gayman tip-in with 9:56 to play. After two ties and two lead changes, Ben Melvin’s three-point play at 5:12 put the Bruins up 44-42, and Brady Strutz’s rebound basket and subsequent free throw with 4:53 left made it 47-42. Strutz later made two more baskets off offensive rebounds, Gayman made a three-point play out of a similar putback, and Gayman dunked an alley-oop from Aaron Schmick to give the Bruins a 13-point lead at 61-48 with 23 seconds left.
Heu-Weller equaled his career high with a game-leading 22 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, while Gayman posted his second straight double-double, 7th of the season, and 22nd of his career with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Schmick passed out 5 assists. The Bruins more than doubled their shooting percentage in the second half, hitting .577 (15-26) from the floor.
Lance Pecht led the Pirates with 21 points, and George Tucker also had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Bryan Williams handed out 4 assists.
With its sixth straight win, George Fox improved to 14-5 overall and 9-1 in the conference, maintaining a share of first in the league with the University of Puget Sound, which defeated Willamette University 91-65. The Bruins’ league record is the best ever for a George Fox team after 10 games of conference play. Whitworth fell to 8-10 overall and 4-6 in the league.
The Bruins host Willamette and the Pirates welcome Puget Sound next Friday, both games at 8:00 p.m. following women’s games at 6:00 p.m.
Whitworth vs George Fox 02/05/05 8:00 pm at Newberg, Ore. - Wheeler SC/Miller Gym At Newberg, Ore. - Wheeler SC/Miller Gym GEORGE FOX 61, WHITWORTH 53 WHITWORTH (8-10, NWC 4-6) Pecht, Lance 9-19 1-1 21; Tucker, George 6-13 5-8 17; Young, Jon 3-13 0-0 9; Jones, J.J. 1-2 0-0 2; Larkin, Mike 1-2 0-0 2; Williams, Bryan 0-7 2-2 2; Fletcher, Mat 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 8-11 53. GEORGE FOX (14-5, NWC 9-1) Heu-Weller, Philip 6-8 5-6 22; Gayman, Mark 7-14 4-7 18; Strutz, Brady 3-3 1-1 7; Schmick, Aaron 1-6 4-6 6; Melvin, Ben 1-5 1-1 3; Szalay, Scott 1-2 1-2 3; Parker, Chris 1-4 0-0 2; Satern, Brent 0-1 0-0 0; Mansfield, Nate 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-44 16-23 61. Whitworth..................... 25 28 - 53 George Fox.................... 19 42 - 61 3-point goals-Whitworth 5-21 (Young, Jon 3-10; Pecht, Lance 2-5; Jones, J.J. 0-1; Williams, Bryan 0-3; Tucker, George 0-2), George Fox 5-10 (Heu-Weller, Philip 5-7; Schmick, Aaron 0-2; Mansfield, Nate 0-1). Fouled out--Whitworth-Larkin, Mike, George Fox-None. Rebounds-Whitworth 33 (Tucker, George 12), George Fox 36 (Gayman, Mark 11). Assists-Whitworth 6 (Williams, Bryan 4), George Fox 12 (Schmick, Aaron 5). Total fouls-Whitworth 20, George Fox 16. A-2400