The visiting Bruins came out hot, scoring the game’s first 11 points, but cooled off considerably thereafter, allowing the Ambassadors back into the game with the next 7 points. The Bruins maintained a shaky lead throughout the remainder of the half, but with Dave Carpenter, last year’s leading scorer in the National Christian College Athletic Association at 30.1 ppg, knocking down 18 first-half points, the Ambassadors stayed close. George Fox held a 39-31 lead at intermission.
The Bruins’ shots began falling again early in the second half, and they eventually built up their largest lead of 23 at 62-39 on a layup by Mark Gayman with 13:26 left in the game. It was Carpenter again who rallied Multnomah, scoring 17 second-half points as the Ambassadors got back with 11 at 70-59 with 6:26 left on a three-point play by Carpenter. With a chance to get the lead back into single digits, however, Carpenter misfired on a thee-pointer, and the Bruins raced away again, finishing with a .559 shooting percentage (19-34) in the second half after hitting only .364 (12-33) in the first.
Mark Gayman led the Bruins with 24 points, hitting 10-14 from the field, and 12 rebounds, his 18th career double-double and 3rd this season. Aaron Schmick scored 13 before fouling out, and Chris Parker chipped in with 10 off the bench. Ben Melvin passed out 6 assists and Tony Walther 5 as the Bruins had 24 assists, while Brent Satern led the defense with 3 steals.
Carpenter had 35 points and Don Wilder added a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Ambassadors. Carpenter had half of Multnomah’s assists with 3, and Wilder picked up 4 steals. Multnomah controlled the boards 46-42.
George Fox, stretching its winning streak to three, finished with a 5-4 record outside the Northwest Conference and is 7-4 overall, equaling its wins total for all of last year with over half the season remaining. Multnomah fell to 8-13.
The Bruins, 2-0 and tied for first in the NWC, return to league play Saturday when they host Yamhill County rival Linfield College at 8:00 p.m., following the women’s game at 6:00 p.m. The Ambassadors host Walla Walla College Saturday at 8:00 p.m.