NEWBERG, Ore. - Trevor Osborne lit up the Oregon skies. His career-high 25 points paced the Whitman College men's basketball team to a resounding 105-77 win over George Fox in Northwest Conference action on Saturday night.
Osborne's night also included career highs in field goals and three pointers made (7). Michael Gutierrez had his second strong outing of the weekend with 14 points off the bench, and Jaron Kirkley stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Blues (11-4, 6-0 NWC), one of three remaining NWC teams, made good on the opportunities the Bruins gave them. Whitman scored 19 points off 19 George Fox turnovers and turned a one-point halftime lead into a rout. Osborne made sure of that when he emerged from the locker room and nailed four three pointers in the opening 3:01 of the second half to put George Fox on its heels.
It was then Nikola Trifunovic's turn as the first year scored seven straight, including a three pointer to put the Blues up 57-42 with 15:08 to play. The lead swelled to as many as 31 points late in the game as the Blues won going away.
Jackson Januik and JD Ahlstrom led the George Fox effort each scoring 11 points with Jackson adding six rebounds. Wesley Reynolds added nine rebounds to share game-high honors in that category with Darne Duckett.
The Blues opened the game on a 9-0 run but George Fox regrouped to make a game of it in the first half. Levi Dalzell hit a jumper to shave the lead to one point with 11:30 to play. Gutierrez single handedly righted the ship, draining back-to-back three pointers to push the lead back up to seven points. George Fox again responded and led by three points on two different occasions the rest of the half. Weston Crump's layup inside of two minutes to play regained the lead for Whitman who entered halftime up 38-37.
It's a quick turnaround for the Blues who visit rival Whitworth this Tuesday, Jan. 21. Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m.