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 Hope to Add to Four Straight Road Wins with Visit to Warner Pacific
* NWC Play Begins Jan. 3-4 with Trip to Whitman and #15 Whitworth
* Where Bruins Rank in NWC Stats
* Upcoming Previews: at Warner Pacific, Whitman, Whitworth (Dec. 30-Jan. 4)
THIS WEEK:
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 (0-0):
No games scheduled
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 No. 15 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:
* 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)
* 2002-03 Bruin Honors:
NWC Player of the Week - Mark Gayman (Dec. 9-15)
* 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. 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.
UPCOMING GAMES (Previews):
Mon., Dec. 30, 7:30 pm - at Warner Pacific College (9-4), Portland, Ore.
Non-conference game ... The Warner Pacific Knights are members of the NAIA and the Cascade Collegiate Conference ... The Bruins lead the series with the Knights 43-19 (23-7 in Newberg, 20-12 in Portland) ... The teams split a pair of games two years ago, the Bruins winning 86-76 in Portland on Nov. 18, 2000, and the Knights winning 86-84 in Newberg on Jan. 23, 2001 ... That win in Portland was Mark Sundquist's first game as the Bruins' new head coach ... The Knights, who opened the season with 5 straight wins, are coming off a 72-57 win at home over Simon Fraser on Dec. 18 ... 6-4 F Matt Segrin leads the Knights in scoring (17.3) and rebounding (6.2) ... Also in double figures are 5-10 G Demarcus Best (13.3) and 6-0 G Nick Hudson (11.4).
Fri., Jan. 3, 8:00 pm - at Whitman College (3-5, NWC 0-0), Walla Walla, Wash.
Northwest Conference game ... The Bruins leads the series with the Missionaries 15-10 (9-3 in Newberg, 6-7 in Walla Walla) ... The Missionaries swept the Bruins last year, winning 88-67 in Walla Walla on Jan. 19 and 82-60 in Newberg on Feb. 15 ... Whitman is riding a 2-game winnings streak with road wins over Great Falls and Montana State-Northern ... 6-4 F Mark Bouma is the only Missionary in double figures (15.9) and also leads the team in rebounding (8.2).
Sat., Jan. 4, 8:00 pm - at Whitworth College (8-0, NWC 0-0), Spokane, Wash.
Northwest Conference game ... The Bruins trail the series with the Pirates 7-12 (4-5 in Newberg, 3-7 in Spokane) ... The Pirates swept the Bruins last year, winning 83-73 in Spokane on Jan. 18 and escaping 100-98 in overtime in Newberg on Feb. 16 in the George Fox Homecoming game ... Whitworth is ranked 15th nationally with 208 points in the D-III poll of Dec. 18 ... The Pirates have four double-figure scorers in 6-5 F Bryan Depew (19.6), 6-2 G Chase Williams (15.9), 6-8 F Kyle Jensen (11.2), and 6-0 G Earl Avery (10.2) ...Jensen is the team's top rebounder (8.0) ... Whitworth leads the NWC in both offense (85.5) and defense (66.6) and is 2nd in shooting pct. (.504).