Overall 6-4: Home 1-1, Road 3-2, Neutral 2-1 / NWC 2-0: Home 0-0, Road 2-0
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HIGHLIGHTS:
* Recent Games: Bruins Go 2-1 in Eastern Washington with Two NWC Wins
* Coming Up: Final Non-Conference Game, NWC Home Game with Linfield
* Bruin Games to be Broadcast and Webcast on KFOX Radio
* Gayman Named NWC "Player of the Week" for Jan. 3-9
* National Record? Bruins Shoot .923 on 3-Pointers at Whitworth
* Bruins Off to Best Conference Start in Six Years
* Career Lists: Gayman Up to 21st on All-Time Scoring Chart
* NWC Stats: Bruins Take League Lead in Field Goal, 3-Point Percentages
RECENT GAMES: 1-0 (Click score for link to stories and box scores):
Jan. 5 - at Walla Walla 71, George Fox 68
Jan. 7 - George Fox 78, at Whitman 75
Jan. 8 - George Fox 89, at Whitworth 78
COMING UP:
* Tue., Jan. 11, 7:30 p.m. - at Multnomah Bible College, Portland Ore.
Final non-conference game for the Bruins ... The Ambassadors are members of the National Christian College Athletic Association ... Series record: George Fox leads 4-0 (2-0 home, 1-0 road, 1-0 neutral) ... The Bruins won last year's meeting in Newberg 97-66 behind Mark Gayman's 25 points and 12 rebounds ... The Ambassadors are 8-12 overall and are coming off a 75-70 loss to Hillsdale in the Multnomah Classic on Saturday ... The Ambassadors average 71.8 ppg and allow 82.4 while hitting .370 from the field ... Multnomah has three double-figure scorers: David Carpenter (21.1), Don Wilder (12.9), and Matt Nelson (10.0) ... Wilder and Nelson average 7.0 and 6.9 rebound a game ...
* Sat., Jan. 15, 8:00 p.m. - vs. Linfield College (5-6, 1-1), Newberg, Ore. (NWC)
First Northwest Conference home game for the Bruins ... The Wildcats were picked 3rd in the NWC pre-season poll ... Series record: George Fox trails 34-36 since 1965 (18-15 home, 16-21 away) ... Linfield has won the last 9 meetings, including 3 last year: 105-72 at the Cactus Jam in Phoenix, Ariz., on Dec. 30, 92-69 in McMinnville on Jan. 17, and 70-64 on Feb. 10 in Newberg ... The Bruins' last win was 102-96 on Feb. 12, 2000, in Newberg ... Linfield, coming off a 74-61 loss at Whitworth and a 90-89 double-overtime win at Whitman over the weekend, hosts Willamette Friday before taking on the Bruins ... The Wildcats average 77.8 ppg (3rd in the NWC), allow 81.8 ppg (6th), and lead the league in filed goal pct. defense (.422) and blocked shots (5.73 pg) ... Linfield shoots well from the field (.483, 2nd) but not so well from the line (.598, 9th) ... The Wildcats have three double-figure scorers in Blake Shelton (17.5, 3rd), Sam Krieger (15.7, 8th), and Chris Lewis (11.5, 19th, tie) ... Krieger is the NWC leader in field goal pct. (.646) and blocked shots (2.73) and is 2nd in rebounding (8.8) ... Lewis 3rd in blocks (1.73) ... Eric Hefferon leads the NWC in free throw pct. (.929) ...
ON THE AIR!
George Fox sports can now be heard locally via the airwaves and across the country via the internet through campus stations KFOX. To listen to Bruin athletic contests, go to www.kfoxradio.net.
Current schedule of broadcasts for basketball:
Sat., Jan. 15 - vs. Linfield (Women 6 pm, Men 8 pm)
Fri., Jan. 21 - vs. Puget Sound (Women 6 pm, Men 8 pm)
Sat., Jan. 22 - vs. Pacific Lutheran (Women 6 pm, Men 8 pm)
Fri., Feb. 4 - vs. Whitman (Women 6 pm, Men 8 pm)
Sat., Feb. 5 - vs. Whitworth (Homecoming - Women 6 pm, Men 8 pm)
Fri., Feb. 11 - vs. Willamette (Women 6 pm, Men 8 pm)
Tue., Feb. 22 - vs. Pacific (Women 6 pm, Men 8 pm)
Fri., Feb. 25 - vs. Lewis & Clark (Women 6 pm, Men 8 pm)
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE:
It is only one weekend, but after two games, the George Fox Bruins are tied with heavy pre-season conference favorite Puget Sound for 1st place in the NWC. They are the only two teams that are 2-0 after the opening weekend of conference play, and both won twice on the road. The Bruins also have the 2nd-best overall record in the league at 6-4. Puget Sound was ranked 4th in the most recent D3hoops.com national poll (Jan. 11). For the latest NWC standings, visit the NWC web site at www.nwcsports.com.
COACH MARK SUNDQUIST
Mark Sundquist (Seattle Pacific '89) is 33-76 (.303) to date in his 5th 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. Click here for the complete bio on Coach Sundquist.
Sundquist vs. upcoming opponents:
Multnomah Bible - 3-0 (Home 1-0, Road 1-0, Neutral 1-0)
Linfield - 0-9 (Home 0-4, Road 0-4, Neutral 0-1)
BRUIN BITS:
* Gayman Named NWC "Player of the Week" for Jan. 3-9
Mark Gayman played a major role as the Bruins went 2-1 on the week, including wins in their first two Northwest Conference games of the season, to earn Northwest Conference "Player of the Week" Honorable Mention honors for Jan. 3-9. In a 71-68 loss at Walla Walla on Wednesday, he scored a game-high 21 points on 10-20 from the field (0-1 on 3's) and 1-3 from the line, with 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals. In a 78-75 win at Whitman on Friday, he had his 17th career double-double and 2nd this season with 13 points and 11 rebounds, hitting 6-14 from the field (1-1 on 3's) and 0-2 from the line, with 1 assist and 1 blocked shot. In an 89-78 win at Whitworth, he had 21 points on 6-12 from the field (1-1 on 3's) and 8-13 from the line, with 6 rebounds and 1 steal. For the week, in 3 games, he scored 55 points (18.7) on 22-46 (.478) from the field, 2-3 (.667) on 3's, and 9-18 (.500) from the line, with 22 rebounds (7.3), 1 assist, 1 blocked shot, and 3 steals. Gayman was a First Team All-NWC performer last year and was named NWC "Player of the Week" once.
* National Record? Bruins Shoot .923 on 3-Pointers at Whitworth
With a 12-13 performance from 3-point range in their 89-78 win at Whitworth on Jan. 8, the George Fox Bruins may have set a new NCAA Division III record for best field goal percentage with at a missed shot with their .923 mark. The NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book lists the record for 10 or more goals as 1.000 (11-11) by Willamette vs. Western Baptist (1/8/87), and the record for 15 or more is .895 (17-19) by Simpson vs. Dubuque (2/22/03). So unless a team had a 13-14 or 14-15 game, the Bruins would have the best percentage for any team that missed only one 3-pointer.
The .923 mark broke the previous George Fox best of .778 (7-9), accomplished twice, vs. St. Martin's (1/6/87) and Northwest Christian (1/20/89). It was also the best in the country thus far this season, topping an .800 (12-15) by Thomas College vs. Rivier College (11/29/04).
The Bruins connected on their first 8 shots in the first half before their only miss. The record is 11 in a row by Willamette in their perfect game. In the second half, the Bruins were 4-4. Making threes for the Bruins were Philip Heu-Weller (4-5), Aaron Schmick (3-3), Ben Melvin (3-3), Mark Gayman (1-1), and Brent Satern (1-1).
* Bruins Off to Best Conference Start in Six Years
There is still a lot of basketball to be played, but the George Fox Bruins have to be pleased with their start to the 2004-05 Northwest Conference season. After defeating Whitman and Whitworth on the road over the weekend, the Bruins are tied for 1st with nationally-ranked Puget Sound atop the NWC standings, both at 2-0, the best start to the conference season for the Bruins in six years. Not since the 1998-99 team won its first four NWC games has a George Fox team gotten out of the blocks with wins in its first two league games.
* 2004-05 Honors:
Mark Gayman - Surf's Up Invitational All-Tournament Team
Aaron Schmick - RBC Mortgage/Windermere Real Estate Holiday Tournament All-Tournament Team
* Double-Doubles:
Mark Gayman: Career 17, season 2 - 32 pts/10 reb vs. California-Santa Cruz, 11/27 at Honolulu, Hawaii; 13 pts/11 reb at Whitman, 1/7
Scott Szalay: Career 6, season 1 - 25 pts/10 reb at Whitman 1/7
* Career Lists: Gayman Up to 21st on All-Time Scoring Chart
Mark Gayman scored 55 points in the Bruins' three games last week, boosting his career total to 1,168. One of 31 players to have reached the 1,000-point mark as a Bruin, he moved past Eric Swanson (1,132, 1986-88) and Ron Willcuts (1,145, 1958-61) into 21st on the all-time scoring list. Ahead are Hille Van Der Kooy (1,170, 1979-81) and Gary Chenault (1,187, 1976-79) ...
Aaron Schmick hit 5-6 free throws in three games last week, boosting his career free throw pct. to .811 (167-206), good for 10th on the all-time free throw pct. list. He is also up to 790 career points, and needs 210 in the last 15 games to become the 32nd player in Bruin history to reach 1,000 ...
Chris Parker hit 6-8 free throws in three games last week, giving him a career free throw pct. of .823 (65-79), good for 7th on the all-time free throw pct. list ...
* NWC Stats: Bruins Move into Lead in Field Goal, 3-Point Percentages
In the Northwest Conference stats of Jan. 9, George Fox is 1st in field goal pct. (.501), 3-pt field goal pct. (.404), 2nd in scoring margin (+2.2), field goal pct. defense (.444), rebounding defense (33.6), 3rd in scoring defense (70.5), assist/turnover ratio (0.96), 4th in free throw pct. (.687), blocked shots (2.80), turnover margin (-0.60), 5th in scoring (72.7), rebound margin (-1.2), assists (13.90, tie), 6th in steals (6.30), 9th in 3-pt field goals (5.50) ...
Mark Gayman is 5th in scoring (16.1), rebounding (7.3) ...
Aaron Schmick is 2nd in field goal pct. (.620), 3-pt pct. (.484), 6th in scoring (16.0), free throw pct. (.828), assists (2.80, tie), 9th in 3-pt field goals (2.20, tie) ...
Scott Szalay is 2nd in blocked shots (2.00), 7th in rebounding (6.7) ...
Ben Melvin is 9th in field goal pct. (.514) ...
Brent Satern is 6th in assists (2.80, tie), 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.27) ...
Chris Parker is 4th in free throw pct. (.840) ...
Philip Heu-Weller is 6th in 3-pt pct. (.441), 8th in free throw pct. (.815) ...
For the latest NWC statistics, go to www.nwcsports.com.
* The Wirta Streaks:
Mike "Biggs" Wirta, George Fox's statistical guru, raised his string of consecutive Bruin men's basketball games attended, home and away, to 548 with three games last week, last missing one on Nov. 25, 1985, at Puget Sound. His streak of men's basketball home games worked is 407, last missing a home game on Dec. 15, 1972, vs. Willamette, when he was in advanced training with the Army at Ft. Jackson in Columbia, S.C. Now in his 34th season of keeping Bruin statistics, Biggs has seen 961 George Fox men's basketball games in his lifetime.