Men's Basketball Release
1/6 - PUGET SOUND 106, GEORGE FOX 97: Loggers Outgun Bruins in Battle of NWC's Highest-Scoring Teams
TACOMA, Wash. - In a battle between two of the three teams still unbeaten in Northwest Conference play and the league's two highest-scoring teams, the 8th-ranked University of Puget Sound Loggers posted a 106-97 victory over the George Fox University Bruins in men's basketball Friday night here at Memorial Fieldhouse.
George Fox held one-point leads twice in the first half, at 3-2 on a three-pointer by Brent Satern and at 10-9 on another Satern basket, but stayed in the game behind Aaron Schmick's 15 points and Scott Szalay's 8 points and 8 rebounds in the period. The Loggers led by as much as 11 twice, the last time at 39-28 on a three by Chase Curtiss with 3:40 left, but the Bruins out-scored the Loggers 17-11 the rest of the way, cutting the lead to 50-45 on Nate Mansfield's three from the left corner at the buzzer. Antwan Williams with 13 points led the Loggers in the first half.
A 9-3 run to start the second half, capped by a Ben Melvin jumper in the paint, gave the Bruins a 54-53 lead, and after Williams scored to put the Loggers back in front, Melvin hit another basket to give the Bruins the edge again. Jason Foster's basket gave the Loggers the lead for good at 57-56 with 17:51 to play, and they stretched it to as many as 14 twice, the last on a Josh Walker goal to make it 82-68 with 10:17 to go.
The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes before the Bruins made a late charge. Down 10 at 97-87 with 3:30 to play, the Bruins went on an 8-3 run, capped by a driving layup by Satern, to make it a five-point game at 100-95 with 1:23 left. Williams iced the game, however, on a layup with 54 seconds left, two free throws with 40 seconds to go after a costly Bruin turnover, and a steal and layup with 16 seconds left.
Schmick led a quintet of Bruins in double-figure scoring with 21 points, while Szalay posted his fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Phil Heu-Weller scored 13 before fouling out, Satern had 11, and Chris Parker tallied 10. Satern handed out 8 assists.
The Loggers also placed five in double digits, led by Williams with 23. Curtiss had a double-double with 21 points and 10 boards, Walker added 17 points, Taylor Marsh scored 12 on four three-pointers, and Zack McVey managed 10 despite being in foul trouble a large part of the game. The Loggers shot 55.4% (36-65) from the field to 45.9% (34-74) for the Bruins, and held a 42-37 edge on the boards.
George Fox, the only team to defeat UPS in conference play last year, fell to 8-3 overall and 2-1 in the conference, while Puget Sound improved to 10-2 overall and 4-0 in league play. Willamette University was also 2-0 in the conference heading into Friday's action.
The Bruins go to Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore., Saturday, while the Loggers are off until next Friday when they host Whitworth College. Both games are at 8 p.m., following women's NWC games at 6 p.m.