Down 36-29 with five minutes left in the first half, the Bruins went on an 9-0 run to take the lead and were ahead 40-39 at the break, thanks to Chris Parker’s 11 first-half points. George Fox maintained a lead throughout most of the second half, taking its largest lead at 68-61 on a jumper by Mark Gayman with 6:32 to play. The Bearcats stayed close by hitting three 3-pointers in the remainder of regulation, the last one by Drew Miller pulling the home team within a point at 77-76 with 1:15 to go.
After a missed shot by Gayman, Miller rebounded and Todd Lewis connected on a layup for a 78-77 Willamette lead with 20 seconds left. Aaron Schmick hit the front end of a one-and-one with 15 seconds left to tie it 78-78 for the Bruins but missed the second, giving the Bearcats a chance to win it in regulation. Miller missed a short jumper and Brennan Garrelt’s putback bounced out as time expired, sending it into overtime.
John Olinger broke the tie with a pair of free throws 25 seconds into overtime, then canned a driving layup, and Garrelts drained a three with two minutes to go, giving the Bearcats an 85-78 lead. The Bearcats hit 9 free throws in the remaining time to stay in front.
Gayman finished with 27 points, 22 in the second half, to lead all scorers, Schmick, Melvin, and Parker added 11 each, and Philip Heu-Weller scored 10. Gayman led the Bruins with 7 rebounds, and Melvin handed out 8 assists. The Bruins shot well, hitting .517 (30-58) from the field and .833 (25-30) from the line, but were out-rebounded 39-32 (28-15 in the second half). The biggest difference came in three-point field goals, Willamette hitting 10-21 to only 2-5 for George Fox.
Miller and Olinger paced Willamette with 22 apiece, Miller sinking 5-5 from three-point range, while C.J. Stuvland scored 17 and Lewis 14. Garrelts had a game-high 9 rebounds, and Olinger passed out 9 assists.
George Fox fell to 8-5 overall and 3-1 in the conference, while Willamette improved to 6-8 overall and 3-2 in the league. It was the 10th straight road loss by the Bruins to the Bearcats.
The Bruins host the league-leading and 4th-ranked University of Puget Sound Loggers Friday at 8:00 p.m., following the women’s game at 6:00 p.m. The Bearcats go to Pacific University Wednesday to play a makeup game that was cancelled last Saturday due to icy roads, playing at 8:00 p.m. after the women’s game at 6:00 p.m.