REDLANDS, Calif. – Shooting a red-hot .548 in the first half, including 13 of 24 from three-point range, the George Fox University Bruins raced out to a 32-point halftime lead and coasted to a 98-78 win over the host University of Redlands Bulldogs in the Lee Fulmer Memorial Tipoff Men's Basketball Classic Friday evening here at Currier Gym.
A.J. Grant hit a three for the Bruins to open the game and they never looked back in giving new head coach Maco 'Shark' Hamilton a rousing victory in his first college game after six years at Union High School in Camas, Wash. The margin hit 10 points for the first time only 16:44 into the game when Sean Atkins canned a free throw, and the lead fluctuating between nine and 19 points over the next eight minutes.
Jonny Howard drained a three at 8:30 to give the Bruins their first 20-point lead of 39-17, part of a 17-0 run that stretched the George Fox advantage from 27-17 to 44-17 with 7:03 to go in the half. Another trey by Grant made it a 30-point game for the first time at 64-34 with 1:09 left, and Cole Larson's layup at the buzzer made it 68-36 Bruins at the half.
The Bruin lead grew to 35 twice, the last at 7:06 in the second half on a layup by Eli Graham. The Bulldogs made a mild run as the Bruins went cold with their free throw shooting, hitting only three of 11 from the line in the final 20 minutes, and got within 19 at 95-76 with 1:55 left on a trey from Ricky Peetz. Although Redlands outscored the Bruins 42-30 in the second half, it was much too little and much too late.
George Fox finished with a .472 percentage (34-72) from the field but connected on 18 of 37 (.486) from downtown. Had the Bruins been better on free throws (only 12 of 27 for .444 percent), the final margin might have been even greater. Redlands sank 28 of 77 (.364) from the floor, and was only five of 27 (.185) from behind the arc. The 'Dogs' free throws were a bit better, however at 17 of 25 (.680) from the line.
Howard was 8-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-7 from long range, for a game-high 22 points, and Grant added 18 markers on 6-of-11 threes (missing his only two-point try) as the Bruins' top scorers. Spencer Bolte added 14 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, while Jason Martin scored 13. The Bruins held a 51-46 rebound margin. Graham handed out seven assists, and Bolte had five assists and three steals.
Aljosa Bjekovic scored 16 points to pace the Bulldogs, with Connor Griffin chipping in 12, Marco Kengott 11, and Eric Radford 10. Alex Rudd had a team-high eight rebounds, and Peetz made four assists.
George Fox (1-0) plays Whittier College (0-1), a 69-66 loser to the State University of New York-New Paltz, Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in the second round. Redlands (0-1) will take on SUNY-New Paltz (1-0) Saturday at 7:00 p.m.