The first half was tight most of the way as both teams had trouble finding the basket in the early going, Lewis & Clark hitting only 33.3% (9-27) in the first 20 minutes and George Fox not much better at 34.5% (10-29). The Pioneers’ largest lead was 6-1 after back-to-back three-pointers by Ryan Wells and David Berggren, but the Bruins then went on a 16-4 run, capped by a Szalay rebound basket, for a 17-10 lead with 11:32 left. Threes by Berggren and Thomas Tillery around a Tillery free throw tied it 17-17 with 9:31 left, and the game stayed close until the Pios took a 27-26 lead into the locker room on Wells’ three with 37 second to go.
George Fox regained the lead for good with 18:35 left in the second half on a three from Phil Heu-Weller, but Lewis & Clark hung tough behind its usual plethora of three-pointers (the Pios are among the national leaders with over 11 threes per game). The Bruins were finally able to put a little distance between themselves and their pursuers with some long-distance gunning of their own when Brady Strutz, Heu-Weller, and Strutz again hit unanswered threes, jumping the lead from a slim 48-45 edge to a more comfortable 12-point 57-45 margin with 7:07 remaining. The Pios got no closer than 7 the rest of the way as the Bruins scorched the nets in the second half for 61.5% (16-26).
In addition to Szalay’s 16th career double-double, Chris Parker just missed one of his own for the Bruins with 8 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Heu-Weller tallied 16 points and Strutz had 12. Heu-Weller and Nate Mansfield had 4 assists apiece. The Bruins owned a 38-31 advantage on the boards.
Wells topped the Pios with 16 points and Tillery added 13, while Berggren had a team-high 9 rebounds. Tillery passed out a game-high 7 assists. The Pioneers, who shoot three-pointers 53% of the time, maintained that rate by putting up 34 from beyond the arc out of their 59 total shots, and hit just over a third of them (12).
With the win, the Bruins improved to 15-8 overall and secured a tighter grip on 4th place in the conference at 8-6. Lewis & Clark fell to 9-12 overall and 5-8 in league play.
The Bruins are off until next Friday when they visit Pacific Lutheran University at 8 p.m. The Pioneers are at Pacific University Saturday, also at 8 p.m. Both are preceded by NWC women’s contests at 6 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Lewis & Clark vs George Fox
02/10/06 8:00 pm at Newberg, Oregon
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VISITORS: Lewis & Clark 9-12, NWC 5-8
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 Christensen, Jeff... f 1-3 0-1 2-2 2 0 2 3 4 3 6 0 3 26
24 Berggren, David..... f 3-17 3-14 0-0 1 8 9 0 9 1 1 0 0 36
31 Waagmeester, Garrett c 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 2 2 0 0 0 0 25
05 Wells, Ryan......... g 6-14 4-11 0-0 2 1 3 2 16 0 0 1 1 39
10 Tillery, Thomas..... g 5-10 0-1 3-4 1 2 3 3 13 7 1 1 0 30
01 Johnson, Larry...... 1-1 1-1 1-2 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 0 7
11 Clayman, Ryan....... 2-3 2-3 0-0 0 2 2 4 6 0 1 0 0 14
14 Thierry, Nick....... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 10
33 Spurgin, Blake...... 3-6 2-3 0-0 2 1 3 3 8 2 1 0 0 13
Team................ 1 1
Totals.............. 22-59 12-34 6-8 11 20 31 17 62 13 14 2 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-27 33.3% 2nd Half: 13-32 40.6% Game: 37.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-16 37.5% 2nd Half: 6-18 33.3% Game: 35.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 3-4 75.0% Game: 75.0% 1
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HOME TEAM: George Fox 15-8, NWC 8-6
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 Heu-Weller, Phil.... f 4-6 3-4 5-9 2 2 4 2 16 4 1 0 1 27
33 Parker, Chris....... f 4-8 0-0 0-0 3 8 11 2 8 1 1 3 0 26
42 Szalay, Scott....... c 8-14 0-0 3-5 4 9 13 2 19 0 4 4 2 33
05 Schmick, Aaron...... g 1-7 0-2 4-4 0 2 2 2 6 2 4 0 1 35
24 Satern, Brent....... g 1-6 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 3 1 0 0 26
03 Mansfield, Nate..... 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 4 0 0 1 19
20 Melvin, Ben......... 2-4 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 3 5 2 4 0 0 18
31 Strutz, Brady....... 5-7 2-3 0-0 1 4 5 0 12 0 0 0 0 16
Team................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 26-55 7-15 12-18 11 27 38 13 71 16 15 7 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5% 2nd Half: 16-26 61.5% Game: 47.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 46.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-8 50.0% 2nd Half: 8-10 80.0% Game: 66.7% 4
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Officials: Chris Minnich, Mike Bernatz, Dale Danner
Technical fouls: Lewis & Clark-None. George Fox-None.
Attendance: 600
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Lewis & Clark................. 27 35 - 62
George Fox.................... 26 45 - 71