TACOMA, Wash. – Securing the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Northwest Conference men's basketball Tournament, the George Fox University Bruins got seven of their 12 overtime points from Sean Atkins and took a regular season-ending 88-83 win from the University of Puget Sound Loggers Saturday night here at Memorial Fieldhouse.
George Fox improved to 15-10 overall and 10-6 in the conference, tied with Lewis & Clark College, while Puget Sound ends its season 9-16 and tied for seventh in the NWC at 4-12. The Bruins and Pioneers split their season series, but the Bruins will be the No. 3 seed in the NWC Tournament by virtue of last week's upset of league champion Whitworth University. .
George Fox will go to No. 2 seed Whitman College and play at 8:00 p.m. following a women's tournament game at 6:00 p.m. between Whitman and Whitworth. In the other men's semi-final, Lewis & Clark will travel to Whitworth.
Atkins gave the Bruins a quick 2-0 lead with a layup 18 seconds into the game, but the Loggers took off on a 13-4 run to take their largest lead of the game at 13-6 on two A.J. Maw free throws five minutes in. A 7-0 run, capped by four straight Anthony Sanchez free throws, lifted the Bruins to a 13-13 tie, and there were five lead changes and four more ties over the next 10 minutes.
An Atkins layup snapped a 27-27 tie with 4:27 to go in the half, and the Bruins twice built up eight-point leads, both times on three-pointers by Seth Brent, the last at 42-34 with 26 seconds to go. A Rex Nelson layup off the rebound of his own missed shot just before the buzzer brought the Loggers within six at 42-36.
Layups by Atkins and Jon Adrian to open the second half gave George Fox its largest lead of 10 points at 46-36, but the Loggers responded with an 8-0 run to bring the game back to a one-possession struggle and neither team led by more than five the rest of the way. The second stanza featured nine more lead changes and four more ties as the teams jockeyed back and forth for control.
In the final minute, Atkins sank a pair of free throws to give the Bruins a 73-71 lead with 47 seconds left, but Rex Holmes drained a three to give the Loggers a 74-73 lead 14 seconds later. A conventional three-point play by Anthony Sanchez put the Bruins back on top 76-74, but Holmes drove for a tying layin with 15 seconds to go, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Nelson gave the Loggers the early lead with a quick bucket, and the teams traded threes by A.J. Grant and Holmes on the next two possessions before Atkins canned a three with 3:38 left to put the Bruins ahead for good 82-81. Atkins added a layup to make a three-point game with 2:43 left, and the Bruins knocked down all four free throw attempts in the final 22 seconds, two by Spencer Bolte and two by Atkins, to come away with the win.
Atkins had a game-high 24 points while Bolte added 18, Sancehz 15, and Grant 13 for the Bruins. Brent hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds and had three blocked shots, as did Atkins. Sanchez passed out six assists, and Adrian made three steals.
Five Loggers were in double figures: Nelson with 21, Holmes with 16, Maw with 12, Derek Jobe with 11, and Dan Cheledinas with 10. Gabe Borboa had nine rebounds, leading the Loggers to a 43-34 advantage on the boards, and handed out four assists.