REDLANDS, Calif. – Continuing their torrid early-season shooting, the George Fox University Bruins shot .527 from the field, made 14 three-pointers, and put five players in double figures in points to pin a 112-96 setback on the Whittier College Poets in the Lee Fulmer Memorial Tipoff Men's Basketball Classic Saturday here at the University of Redlands' Currier Gym.
Starters A.J. Grant with 21 points, Sean Atkins with 20, Spencer Bolte with 18 and Eli Graham with 14 were joined by Jonny Howard, who tossed in 15 off the bench. Howard had popped in a game-high 22 on Friday in a 98-78 win over host Redlands, a game in which the Bruins made 18 threes. They now have 32 threes in two games and are off to their first 2-0 start since the 2006-07 season. Whittier fell to 0-2.
Eric Jennings' three gave Whittier an early 3-2 lead, but it was the only time the Poets were ahead as the Bruins ripped off 14 unanswered points to go up 16-3 five minutes into the game. Howard had seven of the points on a pair of treys and a free throw. The Bruin lead was never single digits again.
A dunk by Bolte upped the George Fox advantage to 20 at 30-10 with 10:17 left in the half, and they led 60-35 at the break. The Bruins were 10-19 from both two and three-point range in the opening period.
The Bruins maintained a lead of 20 or more points through the first five minutes of the second half. The Poets finally got it under that when Nick Demusis hit a three to cut the deficit to 76-57 with 14:57 left, and another three by Jennings made it a 16-point difference of 82-66 with 11:46 remaining. A 14-4 run over the next three minutes by the Bruins, however, including threes by Jason Martin and Grant, lifted them to their largest lead of the game at 96-70 with 8:41 left and squashed any thoughts of a miracle comeback by the Poets.
The Bruins hit the 100-point mark on a pair of free throws by Graham with 6:04 left, making it 100-78. A jumper by J.J. Lacey made it 112-89 with just over two minutes to play, and the Poets scored the game's final seven points to make the final outcome more respectable.
George Fox finished with a .527 shooting mark (39-74), including .483 (14-29) from beyond the arc, and .769 (20-26) from the line. In addition to the five double-digit scorers, Seth Brent almost made it six with nine points. Atkins had a team-high eight rebounds, Bolte passed out seven assists, and Grant and Atkins had six assists each out of the Bruins' total of 27. Bolte made three steals.
The Poets also placed five players in double figures: Demusis with 25, Jennings with 21, David Richardson with 13, Jacob Porter with 12, and Ben Maynard with 11. Porter's seven rebounds helped Whittier to a 36-35 edge on the glass. Richardson handed out seven assists and picked up three steals.
Grant and Atkins were named to the All-Tournament Team, along with Whittier's Demusis and the State University of New York-New Paltz's Andrew Joseph and Taylor Soway.
NEXT: George Fox visits Portland Bible College Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. … Whittier goes to West Coast Bible College Thursday at 7:00 p.m.