GEORGE FOX MEN'S BASKETBALL
Overall 4-2: Home 0-1, Road 2-0, Neutral 2-1 / NWC 0-0: Home 0-0, Road 0-0
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Bruins Stretch Winning Streak to Four with Pair of Road Wins
* Gayman Named NWC Player of the Week, Takes Over Scoring Lead
* Where Bruins Rank in NWC Stats
THIS WEEK:
No games scheduled. Next:
Mon., Dec. 30, 7:30 pm - at Warner Pacific College, Portland, Ore.
Fri., Jan. 3, 8:00 pm - at Whitman College (NWC), Walla Walla, Wash.
Sat., Jan. 4, 8:00 pm - at Whitworth College (NWC), Spokane, Wash.
LAST WEEK (2-0):
Dec. 10 - George Fox 83, at Puget Sound Christian 79
Dec. 13 - George Fox 85, at Northwest Christian 75
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE: George Fox (4-2) was picked to finish 9th in the NWC this season, the same spot they finished in last year. The Bruins play one more non-conference game (Dec. 30 at Warner Pacific) before opening up conference play at Whitman on Jan. 3 and pre-season NWC favorite Whitworth on Jan. 4. For the latest NWC standings and stats, go to www.nwcsports.com.
COACH MARK SUNDQUIST (Seattle Pacific '89) is 17-38 (.309) in his 3rd season as a college head coach, all at George Fox. Against upcoming opponents, he is 1-1 vs. Warner Pacific (0-1 in Newberg, 1-0 in Portland), 1-3 vs. Whitman (1-1 in Newberg, 0-2 in Walla Walla), and 2-2 vs. Whitworth (1-1 in Newberg, 1-1 in Spokane).
BRUIN BITS:
* Gayman Named NWC Player of the Week:
Mark Gayman (W, So., Hillsboro, Ore.) led the Bruins to a pair of wins with two strong performances last week to earn Northwest Conference "Player of the Week" for Dec. 9-15. In an 83-79 win at Puget Sound Christian, he scored a career-high 27 points, sinking 12-23 from the field (1-2 on 3's) and 2-5 from the line, grabbed 10 rebounds, and had 2 blocks and 3 steals. In an 85-75 win at Northwest Christian, he scored 22 points on 10-20 from the field and 2-4 from the line, with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. For the week, he totaled 49 points (24.5 ppg), hitting 22-43 from the field (.512), with 1-2 on 3's, and 4-9 from the line (.444), grabbed 17 rebounds (8.5 rpg), and had 2 assists 2 blocks, and 5 steals. His fine week also enabled him to take over the NWC scoring lead at 19.7 ppg.
* Bruins Surpass Last Year's Total for On-Court Wins:
With a 4-2 record, the 2002-03 George Fox Bruins have already surpassed the total number of on-court wins by last year's team. In 2001-02, the Bruins finished with a 3-22 record, but picked up two forfeit wins at the end of the season from Cascade for using an ineligible player.
* Streaking Bruins:
With 4 consecutive wins over Chapman, Dominican IL, Puget Sound Christian, and Northwest Christian, the George Fox Bruins have their longest winning streak since the 1998-99 team under former coach Mark Vernon won 5 straight to open the season. All 4 Bruin wins have come away from home (the Chapman and Dominican games were played in the Lee Fulmer Memorial Tournament in Redlands, Calif.). The last time a George Fox team won four straight road games was in 1993-94 when the Bruins beat Linfield, Western Baptist, Willamette, and St. Martin's from Nov. 26-Dec. 8, with a home win against St. Martin's on Nov. 27 thrown in. The last Bruin team to win 4 or more with no home games in between was in 1990-91, when they won at Lewis-Clark State, Puget Sound, Mesa State, Concordia, and Western Oregon from Dec. 7-18.
* Where Bruins Rank in NWC Stats (thru Dec. 15):
Scoring Offense - 3rd (77.3)
Scoring Defense - 8th (79.8)
Scoring Margin - 8th (-2.5)
Field Goal Pct. - 6th (.425)
3-Pt FG Made - 5th (6.00, T)
3-Pt FG Pct. - 7th (.340)
Free Throw Pct. - 3rd (.721)
FG Pct. Defense - 5th (.453)
3-Pt FG Defense - 9th (.433)
Rebound Offense - 6th (35.2, T)
Rebound Defense - 9th (45.8)
Rebound Margin - 9th (-10.7)
Assists - 2nd (19.00)
Turnover Margin - 1st (+4.17)
Assist/TO Ratio - 2nd (1.16)
Steals - 1st (11.17)
Blocks - 3rd (3.50)
Mark Gayman - 1st in scoring (19.7), 6th in rebounds (6.5), 14th in FG% (.490), 6th in FT% (.833, T), 3rd in steals (2.17), 6th in blocks (0.83, T)
Nate Tyler - 7th in scoring (16.2), 12th in rebounds (5.7), 11th in FG% (.508), 8th in FT% (.805), 10th in assists (3.50), 4th in steals (1.83, T), 3rd in blocks (1.50), 10th in A/TO ratio (1.31)
Bryan Wadlow - 29th in scoring (8.8), 1st in 3-pt FG% (.667), 14th in 3-pt FG made (1.33)
Aaron Schmick - 5th in FT% (.833, T)
Trevor Person - 2nd in assists (4.50, T), 4th in steals (1.83, T), 3rd in A/TO ratio (1.80)
Brett Yeager - 19th in rebounds (5.2, T)
* Bruin Records Set This Season:
Best Free Throw Pct. (with miss) - .947 (18-19) vs. Dominican IL at Redlands, Calif., 12/7/02 (previous record was .929, 13-14, vs. Willamette, 1/16/99)
* The Wirta Streaks:
Mike "Biggs" Wirta, George Fox's statistical guru, is now in his 32nd season of keeping Bruin statistics. After pair of road games last week, he has been courtside for 477 straight Bruin men's basketball games, home and away, and has also worked 385 straight home games. The last home game he missed was in 1972. Altogether, he has seen 907 George Fox men's basketball games. He watched his 900th Bruin men's basketball Friday, Feb. 15, 2002,when George Fox hosted Whitman as a part of Homecoming weekend, and was presented with a special engraved souvenir basketball at halftime by director of athletics Craig Taylor. "Biggs" says that he anticipates seeing his 1,000th George Fox game some time late in the 2005-06 season.