Overall 2-3: Home 1-1, Road 0-2, Neutral 1-0 /
NWC 0-0: Home 0-0, Road 0-0
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Last Week: Bruins Fall in Double OT at Northwest on Late 3-Pointer
* Coming Up: Bruins Head for Cactus Jam in Phoenix Dec. 27-30
* Schmick Honorable Mention for NWC "Player of the Week"
* Bruins Have Five Scoring in Double Figures
* NWC Stats: Melvin Tops in Assists, Parker in FT Pct.
THIS WEEK (Previews below):
No games scheduled. Next:
--- Cactus Jam Tournmament at Phoenix, Ariz. (Phoenix College), Dec. 27-30 ---
Sat., Dec. 27, 12:15 pm - vs. Ramapo College
Mon., Dec. 29, TBA - vs. TBA
Tue., Dec. 30, TBA - vs. TBA
Other possible opponents in the tournament include Wartburg College, Clark University, Ohio Northern University, Illinois College, Colorado College, and Linfield College
LAST WEEK: 0-1 (Click score for link to story):
Dec. 13 - at Northwest 95, George Fox 94 (2 ot)
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE: George Fox (2-3) plays three games in the Cactus Jam Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz., Dec. 27-30 before starting conference play at home vs. Puget Sound on Jan. 9. Whitworth is this year's NWC favorite, but Puget Sound is off to the hottest start, going 5-1 and averaging 108 points a game. For the latest NWC standings and stats, go to www.nwcsports.com.
COACH MARK SUNDQUIST (Seattle Pacific '89) is 22-57 (.278) 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:
Ramapo, Wartburg, Clark, Ohio Northern, Illinois College, Colorado College - 0-0
Linfield - 0-6 (0-3 home, 0-3 road)
THIS WEEK (Previews):
Sat., Dec. 27, 12:15 pm - vs. Ramapo College, at Phoenix, Ariz. (Cactus Jam Tournamenet)
All-time series: First meeting ... Ramapo College, known as "New Jersey's Public Liberal Arts College", is located in Mahway, N.J. ... Ramapo is a member of the NCAA Division III and the New Jersey Athletic Conference ... The Roadrunners are 7-2 on the season and ranked 32nd in the latest D3hoops.com poll with 33 points ... Ramapo won 5 straight to open the season, and owns an 85-83 win at Montclair and an 84-69 win over Staten Island in its last two games ... Charlie Ransom, a stocky 6-3, 230-lb. G, leads the team in scoring (21.0) and has made 29 3-pointers ... 6-4 F Jared Milligan averages 14.7 ppg ... 6-2 G Amin Wright is at 11.9 ppg and 4.1 assists ... 6-10 C Greg McBain is the Roadrunners' top rebounder (8.1) while averaging 9.4 ppg ...
BRUIN BITS:
* Schmick Honorable Mention for NWC "Player of the Week":
Aaron Schmick (So., Hillsboro, Ore. / Century HS) played perhaps the finest game of his career in the Bruins' 95-94 double-overtime loss at Northwest on Saturday, earning Honorable Mention for Northwest Conference "Player of the Week" for Dec. 8-14. He scored a career-high 29 points, hitting 9-18 from field, including 7-11 from 3-point range, and 4-4 from the line. He hit a 30-foot 3-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime, and hit another trey with 16 seconds left in the second overtime that gave the Bruins a 94-92 lead before they lost on a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left. He also had 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 46 minutes of playing time.
NWC "Player of the Week" went to John Mietus of Lewis & Clark for the 2nd straight week after he had his 6th double-double in 7 games with 34 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and 2 assists in a win over Cascade.
* Bruins Have Five in Double-Figure Scoring:
When George Fox point guard Ben Melvin (So., Pleasant Hill, Ore. / Pleasant Hill HS) scored 16 points at Northwest on Dec. 13, he became the 5th Bruin to reach double figures in points per game scoring average for the season. The University of Puget Sound is the only other team in the Northwest Conference with five double-figure scorers, and the Loggers are running away with the league scoring title thus far, averaging 108.3 ppg to 83.6 for the runner-up Bruins. The Bruins' "big five", their scoring averages, and where they rank in the league through Dec. 13: Mark Gayman (Jr., Hillsboro, Ore. / Glencoe HS) - 20.6 (3rd), Aaron Schmick - 18.2 (4th), Scott Szalay (So., Everett, Wash. / North Seattle CC) - 13.8 (9th), Bryan Wadlow (Sr., Albany, Ore. / West Albany HS) - 11.2 (18th), Ben Melvin - 11.0 (22nd).
* 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 965-992-1.
* Career Lists: Gayman Aiming for 1,000th Point This Season
--- Mark Gayman, who entered this season with 582 career points, had 20 in the Bruins' game at Northwest and now has 685 for his career. He needs 315 more to become the 31st player in the 100-year history of Bruin basketball to reach 1,000 career points ...
* Personal Highs:
--- Aaron Schmick set career highs on Dec. 13 at Northwest for points (29), field goals (9), field goal attempts (18), 3-point field goals (7), and 3-point attempts (11) ...
--- Ben Melvin set a new career high at Northwest for points (16), 3-point field goal attempts (5), fre throws (7), free throw attempts (9), rebounds (6), and tied his high in assists (9) ...
--- Bryan Wadlow set a new career high at Northwest in rebounds (9) and tied his high in field goals (6), 3-point field goals (4), and 3-point attempts (6) ...
--- Chris Parker (Fr., Aloha, Ore. / Aloha HS) had his first 2 college blocked shots at Northwest and tied his highs for field goal attempts (3), free throws (3), free throw attempts (3), and free throw pct. (1.000) ...
* NWC Stats (thru Dec. 14) - Melvin Tops in Assists, Parker in FT Pct.:
Team:
Scoring Offense - 83.6 (2nd)
Scoring Defense - 81.0 (7th)
Scoring Margin - +2.6 (5th)
Field Goal Pct. - .487 (1st)
FG Pct. Defense - .410 (3rd)
Free Throw Pct. - .707 (5th)
3-Pt FG Made - 8.00 (5th)
3-Pt FG Pct. - .408 (1st)
3-Pt Pct. Defense - .278 (2nd)
Rebounding Off. - 40.0 (2nd)
Rebounding Def. - 37.6 (6th)
Rebound Margin - +2.4 (2nd)
Blocked Shots - 3.80 (2nd)
Assists - 21.80 (1st)
Steals - 5.00 (9th)
Turnover Margin - -4.00 (8th)
Ast/TO Ratio - 1.25 (3rd)
Individual:
--- Mark Gayman - 2nd in Rebounding (8.2), 3rd in Scoring (20.6), 3-Pt FG Pct. (.533), 8th in Blocked Shots (0.80, T), 11th in FG Pct. (.542)
--- Aaron Schmick - 4th in Scoring (18.2), 3-Pt FG (3.20), 6th in Assists (3.80), 12th in Rebounding (5.4), 15th in Ast/To Ratio (1.36, T)
--- Scott Szalay - 2nd in Blocked Shots (1.40, T), 6th in Rebounding (7.0, T), FG Pct. (.588), 9th in Scoring (13.8), 14th in Steals (1.40)
--- Bryan Wadlow - 7th in 3-Pt FG Pct. (.476), 8th in Assists (3.60), 10th in Ast/TO Ratio (1.64), 3-Pt FG (2.00), 18th in Scoring (11.2, T)
--- Ben Melvin - 1st in Assists (7.00), 4th in Ast/TO Ratio (2.33), 22nd in Scoring (11.0)
--- Brett Yeager (Sr., W, Oakridge, Ore. / Oakridge HS) - 8th in Blocked Shots (0.80, T), 15th in Assists (2.60)
--- Chris Parker - 1st in FT Pct. (1.000, 10-10, T)
* 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, saw his 501st straight Bruin men's basketball game, home and away, when the Bruins took on Northwest in Kirkland, Wash., on Dec. 13. Now in his 33rd season of keeping Bruin statistics, he has also been courtside for 396 straight home games, last missing one in Newberg in 1972. Altogether, he has seen 931 George Fox men's basketball games.