Men's Basketball Release
11/19 - GEORGE FOX 107, NORTHWEST 91: Bruins Soar by Eagles on Wings of Shooting Wings
NEWBERG, Ore. - Led by shooting guards Phil Heu-Weller and Aaron Schmick, who combined for 55 points, the George Fox University Bruins raced past the Northwest University Eagles 107-91 in the men's basketball season opener for the Bruins Saturday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
The Bruins never trailed in the game as Heu-Weller nailed a three-pointer 23 seconds into the contest for a 3-0 George Fox lead. The Eagles closed the gap to one point three times, the last at 9-8 on a jumper by Stephen Ishmael, but with Heu-Weller scoring 21 in the half and Schmick 14, the Bruins expanded their lead to as much as 18 before settling for a 54-38 halftime advantage.
The Bruins kept a double-digit margin throughout the second half, taking their largest lead of 23 points at 77-54 on a layup by Chris Parker with 12:58 to play. Led by the fine touch of Chris Keller, who scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half, the Eagles hung tough and cut the deficit to 12 at 91-79 on three-pointer by Chris Burnett with 6:53 to go. The Bruins sank 8 of 11 free throws in the final three-and-a-minutes, however, to remain comfortably in front.
Every starter scored in double figures for the Bruins, who sizzled from the field by hitting 36 of 55 shots, a .655 percentage. In addition to the big games by Heu-Weller and Schmick, post Scott Szalay had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, and point guard Brent Satern had a double-double of 13 points and 10 assists. Ben Melvin rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Bruins with 10 points.
Besides Keller's 28, Burnett added 14 points, Kendrick Holley 12 before fouling out, and Aaron Sawyer 11. Sawyer led the Eagles on the boards with 8 rebounds, while Burnett handed out 5 assists.
George Fox (1-0) visits Corban College Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in its next outing. Northwest (5-2), which had a five-game winning streak snapped, returns home Tuesday to host Pacific Lutheran University at 7:30 p.m.