Men's Basketball Release
1/10 - LINFIELD 81, GEORGE FOX 71: Schmick Sets Free Throw Record but Bruins Fall to Wildcats
McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Despite a record-setting free throw performance by Aaron Schmick, the George Fox University Bruins were doomed by a 10-minute stretch of poor shooting in the first half that put them into a hole from which they never recovered, enabling the Linfield College Wildcats to upset the Bruins 81-71 in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game Tuesday night here at Ted Wilson Gym.
Schmick was 16-16 from the free throw line, setting a new Bruin record for field goal percentage in a game and tying the record for most free throws made in a game. The old free throw percentage mark was 13-13 by Justin Paola vs. Western Oregon on Feb. 12, 1994, while Kenny Stone canned 16 free throws out of 19 attempts in a game vs. the College of Idaho (now Albertson College) on Jan. 28, 1987.
A three-point play by Scott Szalay and a pair of free throws and a three-pointer by Schmick carried the Bruins to an early 8-2 lead, but then the offense went ice-cold, scoring only one field goal and a pair of free throws over the next 10 minutes. The Wildcats got hot at the same time, scoring 22 points to take a 24-12 lead with 7:50 to go. The teams spent the rest of the half trading baskets before a three by Phil Heu-Weller and two more free throws by Schmick enabled the Bruins to cut the halftime margin to 42-36.
Schmick led the Bruins in the half with 13 points and Heu-Weller had 10, but the Bruins managed only a 31.3% (10-32) from the field. Steve Taylor paced the Wildcats with 14 points, going 4-4 from three-point range, and Ryan Monagle had 12. Linfield shot 43.2% (16-37).
An 8-3 run to open the second half, capped by an Eric Hefferon three-pointer, pushed the Linfield lead back to 11 at 50-39 with 14:51 left before the Bruins made a run to get within five. With Schmick scoring six of the points, the Bruins out-scored the Wildcats 8-2 in a two-minute span to cut the deficit to 52-47 with 12:53 to play. The Wildcats responded, however, with an 8-0 outburst to bump the margin back up to 13 at 60-47 with 11:00 left, and the Bruins got no closer than seven the rest of the way. The Wildcats connected on 13-14 free throws in the last six minutes to maintain their lead.
Schmick totaled 25 points and Heu-Weller scored 13, but the Bruins' final shooting mark of 33.9% (20-59) was their worst of the year. Szalay led the Bruins on the boards with 11, but Linfield overwhelmed the visitors on the boards 44-32, including 16 offensive rebounds. Brent Satern had 5 assists and 4 steals.
Monagle with 20 points, Taylor with 19, and Matt McGowan with 17 paced the Wildcats, while Jackson Baber pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds. Monagle had 7 assists.
George Fox (9-4, 3-2 NWC) goes to Lewis & Clark College Friday, while Linfield (5-9, 2-3 NWC) visits Willamette University Saturday for conference games. Tipoff for both is at 8 p.m., following NWC women's games at 6 p.m.