Men's Basketball Release
11/22 - CORBAN 108, GEORGE FOX 100: Missed Free Throws and Warriors' Fiegi Foil Bruins
SALEM, Ore. - For the second game in a row, the George Fox University offense reached triple digits in points, but the defense had no answer for NAIA All-American center Eric Fiegi, whose record night led the Corban College Warriors to a hard-fought 108-100 win over the visiting Bruins in a non-conference men's basketball game Tuesday night here at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
Fiegi, who married former Bruin women's cage star Kellie Thomas this past summer, scored a career-high 44 points and tied the Corban record for blocked shots with seven. "We knew Fiegi was going to get his points," said George Fox coach Mark Sundquist of the Warriors' senior star, who led the NAIA in scoring last year, "but we didn't do a good enough job of stopping their other guys."
The first half was a see-saw affair that saw 10 ties, eight lead changes, and two hot hands for each team. A five-point lead was the largest for either team in the half, Corban going ahead 22-17 with 12:43 to play on a jumper from the right wing by Fiegi, and the Bruins maintaining a 53-48 lead at the half when Phil Heu-Weller canned two free throws with 0.9 left on the clock.
For the Bruins, Aaron Schmick scored 16 in the half on 6-8 from the field, including four three-pointers, and Chris Parker came off the bench to score 13 with strong moves around the basket, hitting 5-7. Fiegi hit 7-11 en route to 16 points, a prelude of things to come, while Eastern Oregon transfer Chris Lynn tallied 15 on 6-8 shooting, with three treys. The Bruins hit .500 (20-40) in the half while the Warriors were at .541 (20-37).
The second half was equally tight until the very end. Brent Satern's three-pointer 47 seconds into the second half gave George Fox its largest lead at 56-50, but the Bruins could never shake the Warriors in their home opener as they went to Fiegi constantly inside. With an assortment of moves, the 6-9 post poured in 28 second-half points to keep his team in the game. There were five more ties and 13 more lead changes in a span of 11 minutes before Corban took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Ben Sisler with 3:10 to play, giving the Warriors a 94-92 lead.
Corban kept the lead and stretched it eventually to the final margin by hitting 12 of 14 free throws in the final five minutes. George Fox missed 5 of 7 from the line in that same span, however. The Warriors also concentrated on keeping the ball away from Schmick, who got only one shot in the second half and did not score.
The Bruins hit the century mark in points on a jumper from the left wing by Satern with four seconds left, giving the Bruins back-to-back 100-point games after a 107-91 win over Northwest on Saturday night. The last time a George Fox team had consecutive games in triple-figure scoring was Feb. 15 and 18, 1994, with a 100-74 win over Concordia and a 111-95 win at Southern Oregon.
Heu-Weller and Parker paced the Bruins with 20 points, a career high for Parker, Schmick and Satern had 16 each, and Scott Szalay posted his second double-double in a row with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Ben Melvin had 7 assists and Satern 6.
Fiegi also had a double-double by adding 17 boards to his 44 points, Lynn finished with 23 points, while Sisler and University of Nevada transfer Ryan Heil scored 12 apiece. Heil had 7 assists and Sisler 6.
George Fox (1-1) begins a five-game home stand next Tuesday, hosting Northwest Christian College at 7:30 p.m. Corban (4-2) is back in action Saturday, with Linfield College coming in for a 7:30 p.m. game.