Overall 1-1: Home 1-1, Road 0-0, Neutral 0-0 / NWC 0-0: Home 0-0, Road 0-0
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Last Week: Bruins Even Record with Home Win over Warner Pacific
* Coming Up: Bruins Take On Two in Concordia Tournament
* Gayman Named NWC "Player of the Week"
* NWC Stats: George Fox No. 1 in Rebound Margin, Gayman Leads in Scoring
* Wirta Two Away from Attendance at 500 Straight Bruin Men's Games
THIS WEEK (Previews Below):
--- at Concordia University-Portland Tournament, Portland, Ore. ---
Fri., Dec. 5, 5:30 pm - vs. Northwest Christian College
Sat., Dec. 6, 5:30 or 7:30 pm - vs. Concordia University-Portland or Multnomah Bible College
LAST WEEK: 1-0 (Click score for link to story):
Nov. 25 - at George Fox 87, Warner Pacific 82
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE: George Fox (1-1) continues non-conference play this weekend in the Concordia-Portland Tournament. The Bruins have nine non-conference games this season, eight of them before the NWC opener on Jan. 9 vs. Puget Sound. Whitworth is this year's NWC favorite, but Puget Sound is off to the hottest start, going 3-0 and averaging 110 points a game. For the latest NWC standings and stats, go to www.nwcsports.com.
COACH MARK SUNDQUIST (Seattle Pacific '89) is 21-55 (.276) 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. this week's opponents:
3-1 vs. Northwest Christian (2-0 home, 1-1 road)
0-1 vs. Concordia-Portland (0-1 home)
2-0 vs. Multnomah Bible (1-0 road, 1-0 neutral)
THIS WEEK (Previews):
--- at Concordia University-Portland Tournament, Portland, Ore. ---
Fri., Dec. 5, 5:30 pm - vs. Northwest Christian College
Northwest Christian is located in Eugene, Ore. ... The Eagles are members of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) ... All-time series (since 1984): GFU leads 15-4 (10-0 home, 5-4 road) ... The Bruins have won the last two meetings, both last year, 85-75 in Eugene and 85-76 in Newberg ... The Eagles have won their last 5 in a row to climb to 5-3 on the season entering the tournament ...
Sat., Dec. 6, 5:30 or 7:30 pm - vs. Concordia University-Portland or Multnomah Bible College
Consolation game at 5:30 (1st-round losers), championship game at 7:30 (1st-round winners) ... Both possible Bruin opponents are located in Portland ... The Concordia Cavaliers are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Cascade Collegiate Conference ... All-time series (since 1979): GFU leads 38-11 (20-5 home, 18-6 road) ... Concordia has won the last two meetings, the latest 87-79 on Nov. 27, 2002, in Newberg ... Concordia is 4-4 on the season, with a two-game losing streak (to D-II St. Martin's and Western Washington) entering the tournament ... The Multnomah Ambassadors are members of the NCCAA ... All-time series (since 1984): GFU leads 3-0 (1-0 home, 1-0 road, 1-0 neutral) ... The Bruins won last year's meeting 82-68 on Feb. 4 in Portland ... Multnomah is 2-7 with a 3-game losing streak and hosts Pacific Tuesday before the tournament ...
BRUIN BITS:
* Gayman Named NWC "Player of the Week":
Mark Gayman led the Bruins to their first victory of the season, an 87-82 win at home over Warner Pacific on Tuesday in their only game of the week, earning Northwest Conference "Player of the Week" honors for Nov. 24-30. Against the Knights, he scored 25 points, hitting 11-16 (.688) from the field and 3-5 (.600) from the line, with 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. It was the 9th double-double in points and rebounds of his career. The big game vaulted him into the NWC lead in scoring average (24.5 ppg). He also ranks 1st in blocked shots (2.00 bspg), is 3rd in rebounding (.5 rpg), field goal pct. (.704), and steals (2.00 spg, and is 5th in 3-point field goal pct. (.667). He was an Honorable Mention All-Conference player and won NWC Player of the Week once last year.
* 100th Year of Bruin Basketball in 2003-04:
The 2003-04 season marks the 100th year in which there has been men's basketball at the institution now known as George Fox University. The first year that the school sponsored a team was the 1901-02 season, but there were 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 964-990-1.
* Bruins on the Rebound:
With a 47-29 edge in rebounds in their 87-82 win over Warner Pacific on Nov. 25, the George Fox Bruins took over the Northwest Conference lead in rebound margin with a +3.0 differential (41.0 to 38.0). George Fox coach Mark Sundquist chuckled and said, "I knew we'd be a better rebounding team this year, but not THAT good! Take a look at it now; you may not see it again for a long time, despite our definite improvement."
* Career Lists: Gayman Aiming for 1,000th Point This Season
--- Mark Gayman, who entered this season with 582 career points, had 25 in the Bruins' win over Warner Pacific on Nov. 25 and now has 631. He needs 369 more this season to become the 31st player in the 100-year history of Bruin basketball to reach 1,000 career points ...
* Personal Highs: Several Bruins Set New Marks in Opener
--- Mark Gayman tied a career high with 3 assists vs. Warner Pacific on Nov. 25 ...
--- Aaron Schmick tied his career high with 19 points vs. Warner Pacific ...
--- Ben Melvin scored 8 points for a new career high vs. Warner Pacific ...
--- Scott Szalay posted his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds vs. Warner Pacific, setting a career high for rebounds ...
* NWC Stats (thru Nov. 27): Bruins No. 1 in Rebound Margin, Gayman Leads in Scoring
Team:
Scoring Offense - 87.5 (4th)
Scoring Defense - 85.5 (6th)
Scoring Margin - +2.0 (5th)
Field Goal Pct. - . 541 (2nd)
FG Pct. Defense - .393 (2nd)
Free Throw Pct. - .642 (6th)
3-Pt FG Made - 4.50 (6th, T)
3-Pt FG Pct. - .360 (7th)
3-Pt Pct. Defense - .295 (3rd)
Rebounding Off. - 41.0 (2nd)
Rebounding Def. - .38.0 (4th)
Rebound Margin - +3.0 (1st)
Blocked Shots - 5.00 (1st, T)
Assists - 21.50 (2nd)
Steals - 4.50 (8th)
Turnover Margin - -4.00 (8th)
Ast/TO Ratio - 1.34:1 (3rd)
Individual:
--- Mark Gayman - 1st in Scoring (24.5), Blocked Shots (2.00, T), 3rd in Rebounding (9.5, T), FG Pct. (.704), Steals (2.00, T), 5th in 3-Pt FG Pct. (.667)
--- Aaron Schmick - 9th in Scoring (17.0, T), 11th in 3-Pt FG (2,00, T), 12th in Assists (3.00, T), 14th in Rebounding (4.5, T)
--- Scott Szalay - 1st in Blocked Shots (2.00, T), 3rd in Rebounding (9.5, T), 7th in FG Pct. (.652), 9th in Scoring (17.0, T), 11th in Ast/TO Ratio (2.50:1), 12th in Steals (1.50, T), 15th in Assists (2.50, T)
--- Bryan Wadlow - 10th in Assists (3.50, T), Blocked Shots (0.50), 11th in Rebounding (5.0, T), 15th in Ast/TO Ration (1:75:1), 20th in Scoring (11.5, T)
--- Brett Yeager - 10th in Blocked Shots (0.50, T), 11th in Rebounding (5.0, T)
--- Chris Parker - 1st in FT Pct. (1.000, T)
--- Ben Melvin - 1st in Assists (8.0), 8th in Ast/TO Ratio (3.20:1)
* The Wirta Streaks:
Mike "Biggs" Wirta, George Fox's statistical guru, is now in his 33nd season of keeping Bruin statistics. He has been courtside for 498 straight Bruin men's basketball games, home and away, and has also worked 396 straight home games. The last home game he missed was in 1972. Altogether, he has seen 928 George Fox men's basketball games.