NEWBERG, Ore. – Completing a season sweep of their Yamhill County series for the first time in seven years, the George Fox University Bruins ran away from the Linfield College Wildcats 75-55 in their home finale and stayed tied for second in the Northwest Conference men's basketball race Saturday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
With its fourth straight win, George Fox improved to 13-8 overall and 8-4 in the conference, tied for second with Whitman College, which edged Lewis & Clark College 74-71 at home. L&C fell into fourth place, a game behind the Bruins and Missionaries. Injury-riddled Linfield, which added five junior varsity players to its roster for this game due to attrition for health reasons, fell to 3-18 overall and 2-10 in the NWC with its seventh loss in a row.
After honoring graduating seniors Matt Zandbergen, Anthony Sanchez and Jon Adrian in pre-game ceremonies, the Bruins jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a free throw by Sanchez, a layup by Zandbergen, and a drive by Sanchez and never looked back. A rebound basket by Forrest Paxton and a jumper by Chris Dirks brought the Wildcats within one, but the Bruins responded with goals by Zandbergen, Sean Atkins, and Adrian to take an 11-4 lead five minutes into the contest.
The George Fox lead hit double digits for the first time on a free throw by Adrian that made it 16-6 with 12:30 to go in the half. The Wildcats twice got within eight, the second at 20-12 on a three by Jordan Russell with 7:52 remaining, but the Bruins pulled away with an 11-2 spurt, two free throws by A.J. Grant making in 31-14 at the 4:28 mark. A Zandbergen charity toss gave George Fox a 38-20 halftime lead.
In the second half, two more Zandbergen free throws gave the Bruins their first 20-point lead of 47-26 with 15:54 left in the game, and the margin vacillated between 18 and 28 points the rest of the way. A three-point play by Josh Garlington gave the Bruins their biggest lead of 67-39 with 6:49 left. A 16-6 run over the next six minutes drew Linfield within 18 at 73-55, but there were only 38 seconds left when that happened.
George Fox out-shot Linfield .417 (25-60) to .292 (19-65) from the floor, including .250 (5-20) to .150 (3-20) from beyond the three-point arc, and held the edge at the free throw line as well, .714 (20-28) to .636 (14-22). The Bruins controlled the glass 48-43.
Sanchez led all scorers in the game with 11 points for the Bruins, while Grant and Bolte chipped in with 10 apiece. Garlington grabbed nine rebounds and Sanchez eight. Atkins, who had nine points, passed out six assists, collected six steals, and blocked a pair of shots.
Three players paced the Wildcats with 10 points each - Dirks, Paxton, and Russell. Dirks had a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds, and Paxton just missed one as he gathered in nine caroms. Kevin Hurley handed out three assists, and DeQuan Walls made two steals.
NEXT: George Fox finishes with four on the road, starting next weekend in eastern Washington with Whitman on Friday and Whitworth University, the runaway league leader and No. 3 team in the nation, on Saturday. Game time is 8:00 p.m. on both nights, following NWC women's games at 6:00 p.m. ... Linfield hosts Pacific University Friday at 8:00 p.m., also after a 6:00 p.m. women's game.