The Bruins never led in the first half, but did battle from behind three times to tie it. Gayman scored the Bruins’ first 12 points and 14 in the half, but left with 8 minutes to go after picking up his second foul. The Boxers then reeled off 10 unanswered points, capped by back-to-back short jumpers by Jared Strickland, to take their largest lead at 30-20 with 3:33 left in the half. The Bruins scored the next 8 points to close within two, but Miles Strampe’s layup with 2 seconds left gave the Boxers a 34-30 halftime advantage.
After baskets by B.J. Anderson and Mison Henley upped the Boxer lead to 38-30 to start the second half, the Bruins finally woke up. Schmick, who had managed only two shots and scored no points in the first half, hit two free throws and a three-pointer to cut the Pacific lead to 38-35, then Gayman scored back-to-back layups around a three-pointer by the Boxers’ Brad Krichevsky. Philip Heu-Weller made a three-point play with 16:01 to go for the Bruins’ first lead at 42-41, and the Bruins scored the next 9 points for a 51-41 lead with 12:45 remaining.
George Fox raised its lead to as much as 15 points at 66-51 on a Gayman free throw with 4:17 to go before the Boxers closed with a 20-11 run. Krichevsky’s three-pointer with a second to go for the final 77-71 score was as close as the Boxers could get the rest of the game.
Gayman finished with a game-high 29 points and Schmick had 15, all in the second half. Gayman also topped the Bruins with 8 rebounds and 4 steals, while Ben Melvin had 4 assists. The Bruins clinched the game at the free throw line, hitting 27-31 for an .871 shooting mark.
Krichevsky paced the Boxers with 23 points, Jordan Osborn scored 13, and Strickland had 11. Miles Strampe’s 8 rebounds led Pacific to a 41-32 edge in that department. Krichevsky had a game-high 6 assists.
George Fox improved to 11-5 overall, snapping a 10-game losing streak to the Boxers, and moved to 6-1 in the conference, taking sole possession of first place by a half-game over idle University of Puget Sound. Pacific skidded
to 2-12 overall and 1-5 in the league.
The Bruins visit Lewis & Clark College and the Boxers host Linfield College Friday, both games at 8:00 p.m. following women’s games at 6:00 p.m.