1/15 - GEORGE FOX 81, LINFIELD 76: Bruins Can Free Throws When It Counts to Cut Down Wildcats
NEWBERG, Ore. - A catch-up ploy of fouling backfired on the Linfield College Wildcats when the George Fox University Bruins sank 15 of 16 free throws in the final 2:32, enabling the homestanding Bruins to hold off their Yamhill County counterparts 81-76 in Northwest Conference men's basketball action Saturday night here in the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
Mark Gayman's jumper with 14:44 to go in the first half put George Fox ahead 10-9, and the Bruins never trailed again, although they could never pull away from Linfield completely. The Wildcats' inside tandem of Sam Kreiger with 12 points and Chris Lewis with 11 in the first half kept Linfield close. Philip Heu-Weller had 11 in the first period for the Bruins, including a critical steal and layup with 10 seconds left that sent the Bruins into the locker room at the break ahead 42-36.
The second half was mostly a trade-off of baskets until late in the game as the Bruins stayed ahead by anywhere from 5 to 10 points, taking their biggest lead of 11 at 64-53 on a layup by Heu-Weller with 4:28 to go. The Wildcats then began to foul in an effort to catch up, and the plan appeared to work for a while as the Bruins missed three straight one-and-ones. Linfield cashed in on two of those chances with two free throws by Casey Kushiyama and a bucket by Ryan Monagle to make it a 64-57 game with 3:07 to play.
Scott Szalay finally stopped the Bruins' free throw crisis by sinking two with 2:32 to go, and Gayman followed with a layup after a Linfield turnover to get the lead back to 11 at 68-57. The Bruins scored their final 13 points from the line in the last 1:17 with only one miss, Szalay hitting two more, Gayman a pair, Ben Melvin two, Brent Satern one, and Aaron Schmick six.
Schmick led all scorers with 23 points, nailing 6-6 from the field, including a three-pointer, and 10-12 from the line. Heu-Weller added 18, Gayman 13, and Szalay 11. Szalay also had a game-high 11 rebounds for his 7th career double-double and 2nd of the season. The Bruins finished with a 30-41 night from the charity stripe, and won the battle of the boards 46-38.
The Wildcats had five players in double figures in points, led by Kreiger's 19. Jon Hildebrandt added 13, Lewis 11, and Monagle and Blake Shelton had 10 each. Lewis grabbed 8 rebounds and Kreiger had 5 assists.
George Fox snapped a nine-game losing streak to Linfield while improving to 8-4 overall and 3-0 in the conference, half a game behind the University of Puget Sound. The win also pushed the Bruins past last year's number of wins for the whole season, when they were 7-18, with over half the season still to come. Linfield dropped to 6-7 overall and 2-2 in the league.
The Bruins visit Willamette University Tuesday while the Wildcats host Pacific Lutheran University Friday. Both games are at 8:00 p.m., following women's games at 6:00 p.m.