Overall 10-5: Home 4-1, Road 4-3, Neutral 2-1 / NWC 5-1: Home 3-0, Road 2-1
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Quick Facts / Roster / Schedule / Statistics / Results
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Recent Games: Upset of #5 Puget Sound Lifts Bruins into Tie for NWC Lead
* Coming Up: Pair of Road Games at Pacific and Lewis & Clark
* On the Air! Most Bruin Games Now on KFOX Radio/Internet
* Gayman Honorable Mention for NWC "Player of the Week"
* Both Bruin Cage Teams Tied for First for First Time Ever
* Defense Outstanding in Bruins' Stunning Victory over Loggers
* Career Lists: Gayman Up to 14th on All-Time Scoring Chart
* NWC Stats: Best Shooters in Field Goals and Threes are Bruins
* NCAA Stats: Bruins, Schmick Among Leaders in Field Goal Pct.
* Halftime Promotions for Bruin Basketball Games
RECENT GAMES: 2-1 (Click score for link to stories and box scores):
Jan. 18 - at Willamette 94, George Fox 87 (ot)
Jan. 21 - at George Fox 68, #5 Puget Sound 66
Jan. 22 - at George Fox 83, Pacific Lutheran 71
COMING UP:
* Tue., Jan. 25, 8:00 pm - at Pacific University (2-11, NWC 1-4), Forest Grove, Ore.
No radio/internet broadcast ... The Pacific Boxers were picked to finish 7th in the NWC pre-season coaches' poll ... Series record: GFU trails 31-36 since 1966 (home 21-11, away 10-25) ... The Boxers have won the last 10 meetings, including 77-67 in Newberg on Jan. 13 and 68-62 in Forest Grove on Feb. 14 last year ... The Bruins' last win was 88-63 on Jan. 29, 1999, in Newberg ... The Boxers average 69.0 ppg (9th in the NWC) and allow 76.9 ppg (5th) ... Pacific is 2nd in the league in steals (9.69) ... The Boxers have two players in double-figure scoring: Brad Krichevsky (12.2, 16th in the NWC) and Branden Kawazoe (10.0, 26th) ... B.J. Anderson is the Boxers' top rebounder (5.7, 12th) ... Krichevsky leads the league in steals (2.46) ... Coach Ken Schuman (George Fox), the NWC Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1997, is 149-168 in his 13th season at Pacific ...
* Fri., Jan. 28, 8:00 pm - at Lewis & Clark College (7-6, NWC 3-2), Portland, Ore.
Radio/internet broadcast on KFOX ... The Lewis & Clark Pioneers were picked to finish 5th in the NWC pre-season coaches' poll ... The Pios host Linfield on Tuesday before playing the Bruins ... Series record: GFU trails 16-30 since 1965 (7-12 home, 9-18 away) ... The two teams split last year, the Pios winning 73-67 in Portland on Jan. 16 and the Bruins winning 83-76 in Newberg on Feb. 17 to snap a 10-game losing streak in the series ... The Pioneers average 72.3 ppg (5th in the NWC) and allow 75.9 ppg (4th) ... Lewis & Clark leads the NWC in 3-pt field goals (11.46, 6th nationally) ... The Pios have three double-figure scorers: Travis Jones (17.8, 2nd in the NWC), Tommy Magnuson (14.2, 11th), and Mark Robinowitz (11.7, 18th) ... Magnuson is 2nd in the NWC in rebounding (8.2) and 3rd in assists (3.23) ... Robinowitz is 2nd in 3-pt field goals (3.08) while Jones and Ryan Wells are 3rd (2.69) ... Coach Bob Gaillard, the NCAA National Coach of the Year at Division I San Francisco in 1976-77, is 272-156 in his 16th season at Lewis & Clark, and 437-213 overall in his 24th season as a college coach ...
ON THE AIR!
George Fox sports can now be heard locally via the airwaves and across the country via the internet through campus station KFOX. To listen to Bruin athletic contests, go to www.kfoxradio.net.
Current schedule of broadcasts for basketball:
Fri., Jan. 28 - at Lewis & Clark (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)
Sat., Feb. 12 - at Linfield (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:
Fresh from a scintillating weekend of two home victories that lifted the team into a first-place tie in the conference, the George Fox Bruins now hit the road for tough tests at Pacific and Lewis & Clark. The Bruins' upset of 5th-ranked Puget Sound on Friday and a win over Pacific Lutheran on Saturday boosted the record to 5-1, their best start in the league since the 1997-98 season when the team started 8-1. For the latest NWC standings, visit the NWC web site at www.nwcsports.com.
COACH MARK SUNDQUIST
Mark Sundquist (Seattle Pacific '89) is 37-77 (.325) 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:
Pacific - 0-8 (Home 0-4, Road 0-4)
Lewis & Clark - 1-7 (Home 1-3, Road 0-4)
BRUIN BITS:
* Gayman Honorable Mention for NWC "Player of the Week"
Mark Gayman led the Bruins to a 2-1 week that included an upset of 5th-ranked Puget Sound and moved the Bruins into a tie for 1st in the conference, earning honorable mention for Northwest Conference "Player of the Week" honors for Jan. 17-23. In a 94-87 overtime loss at Willamette on Tuesday, he scored a game-high 27 points on 10-20 from the field and 7-9 from the line, with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steals. In a 68-66 win over Puget Sound on Friday, he scored 18 points on 8-15 from the field and 2-3 from the line, with 13 rebounds for his 19th career double-double and 4th of the season. In an 83-71 win over Pacific Lutheran on Saturday, he scored a game-high 19 points on 8-17 from the field (1-2 on 3's) and 2-3 from the line, with 6 rebounds and 1 steal. For the week, in 3 games, he scored 64 points (21.3), hitting 26-52 from the field (.500), 1-2 on 3 's (.500), and 11-15 from the line (.733), with 26 rebounds (8.7), 2 assists, and 2 steals. A First Team All-NWC pick last year, he was NWC "Player of the Week" for Jan. 3-9.
* 2004-05 Honors:
Mark Gayman - Surf's Up Invitational All-Tournament Team; NWC "Player of the Week" (Jan. 3-9)
Aaron Schmick - RBC Mortgage/Windermere Real Estate Holiday Tournament All-Tournament Team
* Both Bruin Cage Teams Tied for First for First Time Ever
With both the men's and women's basketball teams at George Fox 5-1 and tied for first in the Northwest Conference, a quick check of the record books seems to indicate that this is the first time that both teams have been atop league standings this late in the same season. The only comparable year in which both teams got off to such good conference starts was 1997-98, when the men started off 5-1 (raising it 8-1 before losing again) and the women were 4-2. The Bruins have been members of the NWC since 1995, were members of the Cascade Collegiate Conference from 1991-95, and the men were NAIA independents prior to 1991.
The Bruins' combined record of 21-9 (women 11-4, men 10-5) is the second-best start ever for both teams after 15 games each, and only the second time both teams have had at least 10 wins after 15 games. In 1989-90, the men opened the year 12-3 and the women were 10-5 for a 22-8 record.
* Defense Outstanding in Bruins' Stunning Victory over Loggers
"Offense wins crowds; defense wins games." Whether that old axiom is true or not, there is little question that defense was the key to George Fox's 68-66 upset of high-scoring and 5th-ranked Puget Sound on Friday night, a win that lifted the Bruins into a first-place tie with the Loggers atop the Northwest Conference standings.
"Call it what you want - an off-shooting night by them, or a good night for us - I thought our defensive effort was outstanding and critical to our success," said Bruin coach Mark Sundquist.
The Loggers, who play a run-and-gun style with full-court pressure defense and a lot of three-pointers on offense, entered the game averaging 101.3 points a game, 4th in the nation, but the Bruins held them 35 points below their average and to their lowest output in two seasons. UPS makes 10 threes a game, but made only 5 against the Bruins. Shooting .477 from the field coming in, the Loggers were held to a .313 mark by the Bruins. Jeremy Cross, the NWC's leading scorer at 19.8, managed 15 points but had to shoot 17 times to get that, making only 4.
Almost unnoticed among the other numbers were 7 blocked shots by Scott Szalay, one of the best efforts since the heyday of 6-11 Dave Wilson in the early 1990's. Remarked Sundquist, "Scott didn't have one of his better efforts offensively, but he was huge for us on defense. Not only did he block 7 shots, he certainly gave them plenty to think about when they drove underneath and probably influenced a few more shots. Scott has good instincts for the ball when it's in close like that and he gets good position."
* Double-Doubles:
Mark Gayman: Career 19, season 4 - 32 pts/10 reb vs. California-Santa Cruz, 11-27 at Honolulu, Hawaii; 13 pts/11 reb at Whitman, 1-7; 24 pts/12 reb at Multnomah Bible, 1-11; 18 pts/13 reb vs. Puget Sound, 1-21
Scott Szalay: Career 7, season 2 - 25 pts/10 reb at Whitman 1-7; 11 pts/11 reb vs. Linfield, 1-15
* Career Lists: Gayman Up to 14th on All-Time Scoring Chart
Mark Gayman scored 64 points in the Bruins' three games last week, boosting his four-year career total to 1,269. One of 31 players to have reached the 1,000-point mark as a Bruin, he moved past Gary Blackmar (1,215, 1964-68), Mike Faber (1,222, 1995-99), and Jeff Hoffman (1,264, 1990-92) into 14th place on the all-time scoring list. Ahead are Travis Melvin (1,268, 1998-2002), who is current Bruin Ben Melvin's older brother, Gordy Loewen (1,300, 1968-72), and Dave Adrian (1,307, 1975-78, 79-80) ... With 26 rebounds during the week, he has 637 for his career, and needs 103 in the last 10 games to tie Gary Blackmar (740, 1965-68) for 10th on the all-time list ...
Aaron Schmick hit 16-20 free throws in three games last week, putting his three-year career free throw pct. at .802 (194-242), 11th on the all-time list ... With 43 points during the week, giving him 869 in his career, he needs 131 in the last 10 games to become the 32nd player in Bruin history to reach 1,000 ...
Scott Szalay had 7 blocked shots in three games last week, giving him 53 for his two-year career. He needs 21 in the last 10 games to tie Rick Schlachter (74, 1986-90) and Curtis Kimbrough (74, 1983-87) for 7th on the all-time list ...
Chris Parker hit 8-12 free throws in three games last week, giving him a two-year career free throw pct. of .810 (81-100), 9th on the all-time list ...
* NWC Stats: Best Shooters in Field Goals and Threes are Bruins
In the latest Northwest Conference stats (Jan. 22), George Fox is 1st in field goal pct. (.481), 3-pt field goal pct. (.385), 2nd in scoring defense (72.0), scoring margin (+3.7), field goal pct. defense (.428), rebound margin (+1.0), assists (14.53), 4th in scoring (75.7), assist/turnover ratio (0.94), rebounding defense (35.1), blocked shots (2.87), 5th in free throw pct. (.695), turnover margin (-1.00), steals (6.73), 9th in 3-pt field goals (5.13) ...
Mark Gayman is 4th in scoring (17.5), 5th in rebounding (7.9), 13th in field goal pct. (.493) ...
Aaron Schmick is 1st in 3-pt pct. (.517), 3rd in field goal pct. (.594), 7th in scoring (15.9), assists (2.80) 8th in 3-pt field goals (2.00, tie), 15th in free throw pct. (.785) ...
Scott Szalay is 2nd in blocked shots (2.00), 7th in rebounding (7.0) ...
Brent Satern is 9th in assists (2.73, tie), assist/turnover ratio (1.28) ...
Chris Parker is 10th in free throw pct. (.804) ...
Philip Heu-Weller is 4th in 3-pt pct. (.440), 7th in free throw pct. (.826), 29th in scoring (9.7) ...
For the latest NWC statistics, go to www.nwcsports.com.
* NCAA Stats: Bruins, Schmick Among Leaders in Field Goal Pct.
In the latest NCAA Division III national stats (games thru Jan. 16), George Fox ranked 26th in field goal pct. (.491) ...
Aaron Schmick was 17th in field goal pct. (.632) ...
* 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 553 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 410, 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 966 George Fox men's basketball games in his lifetime.
* Halftime Programs for Bruin Basketball Games
A number of special promotions are scheduled for the halftimes of George Fox men's and women's basketball games throughout the 2004-05 season, including:
"Halftime Hoop Shoot" - Co-sponsored by the Coffee Cottage in Newberg and Country Insurance & Financial Services, this promotion takes place at the halftime of every home game. Tickets for $1 are sold in the gym lobby until just before halftime, and one lucky ticketholder is selected to shoot. A made free throw earns a $5 coupon at the Coffee Cottage, a made three-pointer earns a $10 coupon. A made half-court shot earns the shooter the Country Financial "pot" for the evening, which increases by $50 each time no shot is made (the pot currently stands at $200 for the men's games and $200 for the women's games). All proceeds from the ticket sales go to the GFU basketball programs as a donation.
"GFU Cheer Team", Feb. 4-5 - The George Fox Cheer Team will perform a special dance routine at halftime of the women's games vs. Whitman and Whitworth.
"GFU Sports Hall of Fame", Feb. 4 - The George Fox Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2005 will be inducted in special ceremonies at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4, in the Klages Dining Hall on campus, then the entire class will be introduced to the crowd at halftime of the men's game vs. Whitman that evening at 8:00 p.m.
"Homecoming", Feb. 5 - The Homecoming Court for 2005 will be presented in ceremonies during halftime of the men's game vs. Whitworth on Saturday, Feb. 5.
"Border Collies Night", Feb. 11 - The always-popular Border Collies show from Dallas, Ore., will perform during halftime of both Bruin games vs. Willamette. This entertaining group of trained dogs has performed at many college and professional games, including the Portland Trailblazers and Portland Beavers.
"Chehalem Valley Dance Academy Night", Feb. 25 - The CVDA Performing Company from Newberg will present some of their competition dance routines during halftime of both Bruin games vs. Lewis & Clark.