Overall 5-12: Home 3-6, Road 0-4, Neutral 2-2 / NWC 1-7: Home 1-5, Road 0-2
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Last Week: Bruins Go 2-1 with Big Homecoming Win
* Coming Up: Bruins Tackle Tacoma Teams on the Road
* Gayman Honorable Mention for NWC "Player of the Week"
* Snake-Bit? Bruins Oh-So-Close to Winning Ledger
* NWC Stats: Gayman, Szalay 1-2 in Offensive Rebounding
THIS WEEK (Previews below):
Fri., Feb. 6, 8:00 pm - at Puget Sound University (15-2, 7-1), Tacoma, Wash. (NWC DH)
Sat., Feb. 7, 8:00 pm - at Pacific Lutheran University (4-13, 1-7), Tacoma, Wash. (NWC DH)
(DH - GFU women's game at 6:00 pm)
LAST WEEK: 2-1 (Click score for link to story):
Jan. 27 - at George Fox 97, Multnomah Bible 66
Jan. 30 - Whitworth 88, at George Fox 84 (ot)
Jan. 31 - at George Fox 78, Whitman 71
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE: George Fox (5-12, 1-7), coming off its first NWC win on Saturday vs. Whitman in the Homecoming gmae, begins the second half of conference play with a road swing to 18th-ranked Puget Sound on Friday and to Pacific Lutheran on Saturday, both in Tacoma. For the latest NWC standings and stats, go to www.nwcsports.com.
COACH MARK SUNDQUIST (Seattle Pacific '89) is 25-66 (.275) in his 4th season as a college head coach, all at George Fox. He coached the boys' programs at Woodburn (Ore.) High for two years and at Newberg (Ore.) High for one year before joining the Bruins.
Sundquist vs. upcoming opponents:
Multnomah Bible - 2-0 (1-0 road, 1-0 neutral)
Puget Sound - 0-7 (0-4 home, 0-3 road)
Pacific Lutheran - 2-5 (2-2 home, 0-3 road)
THIS WEEK (Previews):
Fri., Feb. 6, 8:00 pm - at Puget Sound University (15-2, 7-1), Tacoma, Wash. (NWC DH)
All-time series: George Fox trails the series with Puget Sound 8-18 since 1974 (4-6 home, 4-12 road) ... The Loggers won 107-79 on Jan. 9 in Newberg, their 3rd straight win in the series ... Puget Sounds leads the NWC in scoring (107.7) and is 9th in defense (90.9) ... The Loggers also lead in scoring margin (+16.8), rebounding (42.2), steals (13.65), turnover margin ((+10.59), and 3-pt field goals (12.47) ... Matt Glynn is 3rd in the NWC in scoring (21.2), Curtis Medved is 8th (14.9), Chase Curtiss is 20th (11.1), Jeremy Cross is 24th (10.2), and Aubrey Shelton is 25th (10.1) ... Zack McVey leads in field goal pct. (.620) ... Shelton leads in free throw pct. (.897) ...
Sat., Feb. 7, 8:00 pm - at Pacific Lutheran University (4-13, 1-7), Tacoma, Wash. (NWC DH)
All-time series: George Fox trails the series with Pacific Lutheran 6-12 since 1985 (5-4 home, 1-8 road) ... The Lutes won 76-67 on Jan. 10 in Newberg, their 2nd straight in the series ... PLU is 9th in the NWC in scoring (68.2) and 4th in defense (72.6) ... The Lutes lead in field goal pct. defense (.410) ... Sudon DeSuze is 19th in the NWC in scoring (11.4), the only Lute in double figures ...
BRUIN BITS:
* Gayman Honorable Mention for NWC "Player of the Week"
Mark Gayman had 3 fine games, including 2 double-doubles, as the Bruins went 2-1, earning Honorable Mention for Northwest Conference "Player of the Week" for Jan. 26-Feb. 1. In a 97-66 win over Multnomah Bible on Tuesday, he had 25 points on 11-17 from the field (0-2 on 3's) and 3-4 from the line, with 12 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals. In an 88-84 overtime loss to Whitworth on Friday, he had 16 points on 6-14 from the field and 4-5 from the line, with 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 blocks. In a 78-71 win over Whitman on Saturday, he had 16 points on 7-13 from the field (0-1 on 3's) and 2-4 from the line, with a career-high 17 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. For the week, in 3 games, he scored 57 points (19.0), hitting 24-44 (.545) from the field (0-3 on 3's) and 9-13 (.692) on free throws, with 37 rebounds (12.3), 5 assists, 4 blocks, and 5 steals.
NWC "Player of the Week" went to Bryan Depew of Whitworth, who led the Pirates to two wins with 62 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 assists.
* Snake-Bit? Bruins Oh-So-Close to Winning Ledger:
The Bruins' 5-12 record after 17 games doesn't tell the whole story of how improved the 2004 team actually is. "Sometimes I feel like we're under some sort of dark cloud; we've been so close and just can't seem to catch a break," bemoaned head coach Mark Sundquist after a tough overtime loss to a strong Whitworth team on Friday. Of the Bruins' 12 losses, 3 have been in overtime, and 3 others have been by a combined total of 10 points; reverse those misfortunes, and the Bruins could very easily be 11-6. The Bruins hope their Homecoming 78-71 victory over Whitman in another close one on Saturday signals some good things to come for the season's final 8 games.
* 100th Year of Bruin Basketball in 2003-04:
The 2003-04 season marks the 100th year for which there are records in which there has been men's basketball at the institution now known as George Fox University. While the school did have basketball on the campus of then-Pacific Academy prior to the 1901-02 season, that is the first year for which there is an official record. There have been two years since then when there was no team: 1903-04, when smallpox forced cancellation of the season, and 1918-19, when an influenza outbreak wiped out the schedule. Insofar as records can be authenticated, the Bruins, counting this season's scores, have a 100-year cumulative record of 968-1,001-1 (.492).
* Double-Doubles:
--- Mark Gayman: season 5, career 13 - 25 pts/13 eb vs. Warner Pacific, 11/25/03; 17 pts /12 reb vs. Ramapo at Phoenix, Ariz., 12/27/03; 19 pts/11 reb at Lewis & Clark, 1/16/04; 25 pts/12 reb vs. Multnomah Bible, 1/27/03; 16 pts/17 reb vs. Whitman, 1/31/03
--- Scott Szalay: season 5, career 5 - 15 pts/11 reb vs. Warner Pacific, 11/25/03; 10 pts/10 reb vs. Linfield at Phoenix, Ariz., 12/30/03; 10 pts/10 reb at Linfield, 1/17/04; 24 pts/12 reb vs. Willamette, 1/20/04; 15 pts/10 reb vs. Whitman, 1/31/03
* Career Lists:
--- Mark Gayman, who entered this season with 582 career points, had 57 points in 3 games during the week, giving him 876 for his career. He needs 124 more to become the 31st player in the 100-year history of Bruin basketball to reach 1,000 career points ...
* Personal Highs:
--- Mark Gayman set a new career high for rebounds (17) vs. Whitman on Jan. 31 ...
--- Scott Szalay set new career highs for free throws (5) and free throw pct. (1.000, 5-5) vs. Whitman on Jan. 31 ...
--- Ben Melvin set new career high for points (19), field goals (6), 3-pt field goals (3), and 3-pt field goal pct. (1.000, 3-3) vs. Whitworth on Jan. 30, and set a new high for free throw pct. (.833, 5-6) vs. Whitman on Jan. 31 ...
--- Bryan Wadlow set a new career high for 3-pt field goal attempts (9) and tied his high for field goals (6) and attempts (13) vs. Multnomah Bible on Jan. 27 ...
--- Brett Yeager set a new career high for blocked shots (4) vs. Multnomah Bible on Jan. 27 ...
--- Chris Parker set new career highs for rebounds (9) and steals (2) vs. Whitworth on Jan. 30, and for field goal pct. (.500, 3-6) vs. Whitman on Jan. 31, and tied his high for field goals (3) vs. Whitman ...
--- Mark Johnson set new career highs for points (6), rebounds (5), field goal attempts (6), 3-pt field goal attempts (4), and free throw attempts (3), and tied his highs for field goals (1), free throws (2), and steals (1) vs. Multnomah Bible on Jan. 27 ...
--- Ryan Rockwood set new career highs for free throws (2) and attempts (4) and rebounds (4) and tied his high for points (4) vs. Multnomah Bible on Jan. 27 ...
--- Jordan Gama set new career highs for field goal attempts (3), 3-pt field goal attempts (3), and steals (1), and tied his high for field goals (1) and 3-pt field goals (1) vs. Multnomah Bible on Jan. 27 ...
* NWC Stats (thru Feb. 1): Gayman, Szalay 1-2 in Offensive Rebounding:
Team:
Scoring Offense - 77.3 (3rd)
Scoring Defense - 81.3 (8th)
Scoring Margin - -4.0 (8th)
Free Throw Pct. - .658 (8th)
Field Goal Pct. - .456 (5th)
FG Pct. Defense - .442 (5th)
3-Pt FG Made - 6.94 (6th)
3-Pt FG Pct. - .344 (7th)
3-Pt Pct. Defense - .358 (8th)
Rebounding Off. - 39.7 (2nd)
Rebounding Def. - 37.1 (6th)
Rebound Margin - +2.6 (2nd)
Blocked Shots - 3.59 (1st, T)
Assists - 18.41 (1st)
Steals - 6.12 (7th)
Turnover Margin - -3.88 (8th)
Ast/TO Ratio - 1.02 (4th)
Individual:
--- Mark Gayman - 1st in Offensive Rebounding (2.88), 2nd in Rebounding (8.6), Defensive Rebounding (5.76), 4th in Scoring (17.3), 7th in Blocked Shots (0.71), 15th in FG Pct. (.488)
--- Aaron Schmick - 5th in 3-Pt FG (2.71), 7th in Scoring (15.3), 9th in Assists (3.76), 10th in Ast/TO Ratio (1.39), Defensive Rebounding (4.12), 11th in FT Pct. (.772), 13th in 3-Pt FG Pct. (.383), 20th in Rebounding (4.6)
--- Scott Szalay - 2nd in Blocked Shots (1.18), Offensive Rebounding (2.76), 3rd in Rebounding (8.1), Defensive Rebounding (5.29), 6th in FG Pct. (.565), 13th in Scoring (12.4, T)
--- Bryan Wadlow - 5th in 3-Pt FG Pct. (.413), 10th in 3-Pt FG (1.82, T), 15th in Assists (2.59), 18th in Rebounding (4.6), 25th in Scoring (10.1, T) --- Ben Melvin - 4th in Assists (4.41), 12th in Ast/TO Ratio (1.27), 23rd in Scoring (10.4)
--- Brett Yeager - 3rd in Blocked Shots (1.12), 11th in Ast/TO Ratio (1.35), 14th in Assists (2.71)
--- Chris Parker - 7th in FT Pct. (.820)
* 2003-04 Honors:
--- Mark Gayman - Northwest Conference "Player of the Week" (Nov. 24-30); Mortgage Market Holiday All-Tournament Team
* The Wirta Streaks:
Mike "Biggs" Wirta, George Fox's statistical guru, raised his streak of men's basketball home games to 403 with three more games in Miller Gym last week. The last home game he missed was on Dec. 15, 1972, vs. Willamette, when he was in advanced training with the Army at Ft. Jackson in Columbia, S.C. He also raised his string of consecutive Bruin men's basketball games, home and away, to 530, last missing one on Nov. 25, 1985, at Puget Sound. Now in his 33rd season of keeping Bruin statistics, Biggs has seen 943 George Fox men's basketball games.