SALEM, Ore. – For the second game in a row, six George Fox University players scored in double figures, with Eli Graham posting a double-double in points and assists, as the Bruins completed a season sweep of the Corban University Warriors with a 94-84 victory in non-conference men's basketball Saturday night here at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
The Bruins, who defeated the Warriors 95-82 in Newberg on Nov. 26, won their fourth straight game and improved to 7-1, equaling the fourth-best documented start in team history. The 1989-90 team also started 7-1, while the 1990-91 Bruins had the best start ever at 14-1. Corban fell to 3-8 with its fifth straight loss.
With Cyrus Ward powering inside for three layups, the Warriors took an 8-4 lead four minutes into the game. Jonny Howard, last week's Northwest Conference Player of the Week, stepped off the Bruin bench to hit back-to-back three-pointers, and A.J. Grant added another three, to give the visitors a 13-8 lead which they would not relinquish with 13:42 to go in the half. Grant added three more buckets from downtown as the Bruins stretched the lead to 12 points at 26-14 with 9:33 left.
Corban cut the Bruin lead to six on a pair of free throws by Jordan Carter and Ernst Kruger and a layup by Kruger, but two treys by J.J. Lacey around two Ward free throws moved the margin back to 10 at 32-22 with 7:00 left. The George Fox lead never dipped into single digits again. A three by Spencer Bolte with 11 seconds remaining gave the Bruins their largest lead of the halftime and 52-34 advantage at the break.
The Bruins shot .581 (18-31) in the first half, including .545 (12-22) from beyond the arc. The Warriors shot .481 (13-27) and were only 1-8 from three-point range. Ward led all scorers in the half with 16 points, while Grant had 12 and Howard 11 for the Bruins.
With Sean Atkins scoring on a rebound and a baseline jumper, the Bruins opened the second period with an 8-2 run to expand their lead to 24 at 60-36 with 17:28 to play. A three by Bolte with 16:07 to go made it 65-40, the largest gap of the game.
With Ward continuing to score at will (he had 17 in the second half), the Warriors trimmed the deficit to 14 at 71-57 with 10:19 left, and the lead fluctuated between 14 and 18 points over the next six minutes. Caleb Herzberg's three free throws with 4:35 left finally got Corban within 13 at 84-71, and it became a 10-point game at 92-82 on a layup by Ward with 48 seconds to go, but that was the hosts' last gasp.
Howard scored 18, Atkins 16, Grant 14, Bolte 13, Graham 12, and Seth Brent 10 for the Bruins, who finished with a .537 shooting mark (36-67), including .469 (15-32) from downtown. Atkins had six rebounds in leading the Bruins to a 35-31 edge on the glass. Graham handed out 11 assists, the first Bruin to record double figures in assists since Brent Satern had 14 against Walla Walla College on Jan. 14, 2006.
Ward posted a double-double for the Warriors with 33 points and 10 boards, while Josiah Sebens scored 15 points and Carter 13. The Warriors shot .500 (29-58) from the field but only .167 (3-18) from long range, and stayed in the game with free-throw shooting (23-28 for .821 to only 7-13 for .538 for the Bruins). Toby Roth passed out nine assists and Carter eight. Ward also blocked three shots.
NEXT: George Fox returns to action after Christmas in the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas, Nev., on Dec. 27-28. The Bruins will take the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. … Corban hosts Evergreen State College Friday at 7:30 p.m. in a Cascade Collegiate Conference contest.