FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Sean Atkins, George Fox University's leading scorer who had been held under double figures each of the last two games, exploded for a game-high 22 points as the Bruins fought off the Pacific University Boxers 85-76 in a critical Northwest Conference men's basketball game Saturday night here at the Stoller Center.
By winning and splitting the season series with Pacific, George Fox improved to 10-8 overall and 6-4 in the conference, remaining even in the league standings with Whitman College, which won 89-62 at the University of Puget Sound. Both teams climbed into third, a half-game ahead of Pacific, which fell to 11-7 overall and from third to fifth in the NWC at 5-4.
Both teams came out blazing to start the game. By the time of the first media timeout at the 10:57 mark, George Fox owned a 25-22 lead and had shot 76 percent from the field, with Atkins scoring nine points in that span and Anthony Sanchez seven. Pacific kept pace, shooting 56 percent, with the major damage done by Charles Mosley, who had his way around the rim with eight points on short-range goals.
Both teams cooled off after that - but not Jason Martin, who came off the bench to score the Bruins' final 12 points of the half. The Bruins were up 27-24 with 9:44 to go following a jumper by Atkins, which gave him 11 points in just over 10 minutes, when Martin went to work. His three-point play made it 30-24 Bruins with 9:13 left, but the Boxers fought back and Mosley tied the contest 32-32 with a close-in jumper with 4:55 left. Cameron Hayes gave Pacific its first lead of 34-32 with a basket with four minutes to go, but Martin scored the final seven points of the stanza for the Bruins to give his team a 39-34 lead at the half.
A three by Jon Adrian and a layup by Sanchez to start the second half enabled George Fox to take its largest lead of 44-34 with 18:46 to go, and they reached that margin twice more, the last at 56-46 on a layup by Atkins with 14:15 left. The Boxers got within four points four times over the next 10 minutes, only to have the Bruins answer with a score of their own. Down 75-71 following a Dustin Bowser jumper with 4:17 to play, the Boxers finally got within two on a drive by Danny Brakebush with 3:22 remaining. The Bruins answered with two free shots and a jumper by Seth Brent that made it 79-73 with 2:20 left.
Andrew Beatty's two free throws at 2:12 cut the Pacific deficit to four, but on their next possession, Brent blocked a drive by Brakebush and Sanchez got a layup at the other end, pushing the George Fox lead back to six at 81-75 with 1:03 showing. Brent had another block, this one on Bowser, with 38 seconds left, and Atkins hit two free throws with 36 seconds to go for a seven-point lead. After Colin Wester missed a pair of three-point tries, Atkins rebounded the second miss and iced the win with a pair of free tosses with 13 seconds to play. Brent added yet another block, his fourth of the game, on a Brakebush three-point attempt with 10 seconds remaining.
George Fox finished with a.517 shooting percentage (30-58), including a .381 mark (8-21) on threes, and a .850 free throw percentage (17-20). Pacific shot .464 (32-69) from the field, .333 (5-15) on threes, and .778 (7-9) from the line. After trailing on the boards 21-12 in the first half, the Bruins out-boarded the Boxers 20-16 in the second half.
Atkins hit 7-13 from the floor with a couple of threes and 6-6 from the line for his 22, followed by Martin with 16 (hitting 8-9 from the line), Grant with 15 (including three threes), Sanchez with 11, and Brent with 10 (making 4-4 from the field). Brent had a team-high nine rebounds, while Atkins passed out four assists.
Mosley topped the Boxers with 18 points, with Beatty scoring 13, Bowser 12 (on 6-7 shooting), and Wester 11. Mosley had a team-high seven rebounds, with Cameron Hayes making three assists and Wester picking up three steals.
NEXT: George Fox visits Portland Bible College Monday for a 7:00 p.m. tip, completing the non-conference portion of the Bruins' schedule for 2012-13 ... Pacific goes to Whitman Friday for a conference game starting at 8:00 p.m., preceded by the women's teams at 6:00 p.m.