WALLA WALLA, Wash. – With a dazzling 31-7 run midway through the first half, the George Fox University Bruins built a 24-point lead, then hung on for dear life late in the second half to pin a 98-95 loss on the Whitman College Missionaries in a critical Northwest Conference men's basketball game Friday night here at the Sherwood Center.
With the win, George Fox is now 14-7 overall and 7-5 in conference play, remaining tied for fourth in the league standings with Lewis & Clark College, which won 68-54 at Willamette University Friday. Whitman fell to 15-7 overall and 10-3 in the NWC, but maintained its hold on second place.
The game was tied 10-10 with 14:26 left in the first half when a three-pointer by A.J. Grant ignited the Bruins' big run, which reached its apex at 41-17 following another jumper by Grant at the 4:47 mark. The Missionaries got back in the game with a 10-0 run and eventually closed within nine at 45-36 on an Evan Martin free throw with 1:28 to go before the Bruins extended the margin again. Spencer Bolte's running three-pointer at the buzzer from 40 feet out near the right sideline gave the Bruins a 53-38 halftime lead.
The Bruins' second-half lead hovered between 11 and 21 points throughout most of the period, and stood at 20 following a Sean Atkins layup that made it 89-69 with 6:17 remaining. The Missionaries had one final charge in them, however, a 20-4 outburst over the next four-and-a-half minutes bringing them within four at 93-89 after a jumper in the lane by 2012-13 NWC Player of the Year Ben Eisenhardt that had the home crowd roaring.
Jonny Howard throttled the throng, however, with three throws to push the Bruin lead back up to seven at 96-89 with 42 seconds left. Howard and Grant each added one more free throw in the final 21 seconds, just enough to offset two charity tosses by Matt Mounier and baskets by LuQuam Thompson and Tochi Oti and give the Bruins the upset. George Fox now owns a win over both league-leading Whitworth University and Whitman, a factor which could be extremely significant for NWC Tournament spots in the case of ties.
George Fox shot .500 overall (31-62) and from three-point range (14-28), while Whitman shot .508 (31-61) from the field and .389 (7-18) from downtown. The Bruins held a huge 43-28 advantage on the glass, enabling them to survive 25 turnovers to 12 for the Missionaries.
Grant tied his career high with 28 points, including 7-10 on threes, to lead a quintet of Bruins in double figures. Atkins added 15 points on 6-7 from the field, Howard 14, and Bolte and Seth Brent 11 each. Brent had a team-high eight rebounds, while Howard passed out three assists and made four steals.
Eisenhardt led Whitman with 22 points, followed by Oti with 18, Jackson Clough with 15, and Mounier with 11. Martin had six rebounds, Oti made four steals, and three Missionaries had two assists apiece.
NEXT: George Fox visits Whitworth Saturday at 8:00 p.m., hoping to hand the Pirates their second conference loss - and the Bruins gave them that lone setback 98-85 back on Jan. 17 in Newberg. The men's game will follow the women's game at 6:00 p.m. … Whitman hosts Linfield Saturday at 6:00 p.m. following the women's game at 4:00 p.m.