Down by three with a minute to go after Mike Kirkham’s free throw gave the Pios a 60-57 lead, the Bruins cut it to one on Szalay’s layup with 36 seconds left. Moments later, Szalay stole the inbounds pass and fed Philip Heu-Weller under the basket for an easy layup and a 61-60 George Fox lead.
When the Pios threw the ball away on their next possession, the home team was forced to foul, and Schmick hit two free throws for a 63-60 lead with 26 seconds left. The Pios’ Ryan Wells drove for a basket to make it 63-62 with 21 seconds left, and Schmick hit two more free throws with 20 seconds remaining to put the Bruins back up by three at 65-62.
Mark Robinowitz missed a potential tying three from the right corner, but Wells rebounded and drained a three from the left wing for a 65-65 tie with 9 seconds to play. The Bruins threw the ball in to Schmick, who raced downcourt, and when the Pios converged on him near the three-point line, he split the defenders and drove in uncontested for an easy game-winning layup.
The Bruins had led throughout most of the first half. After Magnuson scored the game’s first basket on a jump hook to give the Pios a 2-0 lead, Mark Gayman got a tip-in and a free throw to put the Bruins in front 3-2, and they led the remainder of the half. Schmick held the hot hand for the Bruins, hitting all six of his shots, including a pair of three-pointers, for 14 first-half points. Schmick’s three with 5:49 left put the Bruins up nine at 27-18, but Pios went on a 12-6 run to close the half, mostly on drives around screens, to cut the George Fox lead to 33-30 at the intermission.
Lewis & Clark scored six of the first seven points in the second half, regaining the lead 36-34, but Heu-Weller and Schmick hit back-to-back threes to put the Bruins back on top 40-36. There were ties at 42-42 and 44-44 before the Bruins went on a 6-0 run to make it 50-44 with 12:19 to go on a Gayman jumper. However, the Pios rallied with a 12-3 outburst to take a 56-53 lead with 5:34 to play on a Magnuson layup, and never trailed again until the Bruins battled back in the last minute.
Schmick finished with a game-high 26 points, sinking 9-13 from the field with 3 threes and 5-6 from the line, while Gayman posted his 20th career double-double and 5th of the season with 18 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Szalay added 10 points and 9 boards as George Fox out-rebounded Lewis & Clark 38-30. Szalay and Brent Satern had 3 assists.
For the Pioneers, Wells led the way with 16, Magnuson scored 12, and Thomas Tillery added 11. Magnuson and Travis Jones had 5 rebounds apiece, and Adam Merino handed out 3 assists. The Pios, who entered the game 5th in the nation in three-pointers per game (11.5), hit only 4-19 from long distance, and Jones, the league’s 2nd-leading scorer at 17.8 ppg, was held to only 4 points on 1-8 shooting.
George Fox improved to 12-5 overall and 7-1 in the conference with its 4th straight win and stayed a half-game ahead of the University of Puget Sound, which defeated crosstown rival Pacific Lutheran University 115-89 Friday. Lewis & Clark slipped to 8-7 overall and 4-3 in the league as its own four-game winning streak was halted.
The Bruins host Whitman College next Friday, Feb. 4, while the Pioneers go to Pacific Lutheran this Saturday. Both games are at 8:00 p.m., following women’s games at 6:00 p.m.