Men's Basketball Release - Dec. 1, 2005
Overall 2-1: Home 2-0, Road 0-1 / NWC 0-0: Home 0-0, Road 0-0
LINKS FOR MEN'S BASKETBALL TO:
Quick Facts / Roster / Schedule / Statistics / Results / Press Releases / Box Scores
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Recent Games: Bruins Go Over .500 with Home Win over NW Christian
* Coming Up: First Two NWC Games and Rematch with Corban
* Heu-Weller HM for NWC "Player of the Week" for Nov. 21-27
* Bruins Aiming for Historic 1,00th Win This Season
* Career Lists: Heu-Weller, Parker, Schmick Among All-Time Best at FT Line
* NWC Stats: Parker 1st in League in FG Pct., 2nd in FT Pct.
* The Wirta Watch: "Biggs" to See 1,000th Game This Season
* Halftime Promotions for Bruin Basketball Games
RECENT GAMES: 1-0 (Click score for link to stories and box scores):
Nov. 29 - at George Fox 78, Northwest Christian 63
COMING UP:
* Fri., Dec. 2, 8:00 pm - vs. Whitworth College (2-1, 0-0), Newberg, Ore. (NWC)
Broadcast/Webcast on KFOX radio ... Northwest Conference opener for both teams ... The Whitworth Pirates from Spokane, Wash., are coming off a 31-11 campaign and 9-7 4th-place NWC finish ... The Pirates were picked for 3rd in the NWC pre-season coaches' poll, one point behind 2nd-place George Fox ... Series record: GFU trails 9-16 (5-7 home, 4-9 road) ... The Bruins took both games last year, 89-78 in Spokane and 61-53 in Newberg before the largest home crowd in team history - 2,400 on Homecoming ... Whitworth leads the NWC in free throw pct. (.815) and is 2nd in steals (9.33) ... The Pirates have 3 double-figure scorers in First Team All-NWC forward Lance Pecht (18.0), George Tucker (16.0), and Bryan Williams (13.7) ... Pecht is the top rebounder (6.3) ...
* Sat., Dec. 3, 6:00 pm - vs. Whitman College (2-1, 0-0), Newberg, Ore. (NWC)
Broadcast/Webcast on KFOX radio ... Tipoff time is two hours earlier than usual conference games to allow Whitman travel time back home ... Coming off a 5-20 season and 3-13 8th-place tie in the NWC, the Missionaries from Walla Walla, Wash., were picked 7th in the pre-season coaches' poll ... Series record: GFU leads 18-13 (11-3 home, 7-10 road) ... The Bruins took both games last year, 78-75 in Walla Walla and 79-75 in Newberg ... The Missionaries have four players in double figures in scoring: Erik Kofler (20.7, 3rd in the NWC), Greg Ricker (17.7), Matt Kelly (15.7), and Ian Warner (10.0) ... Kofler is tied for 1st in the NWC in blocked shots with the Bruins' Scott Szalay (2.00) and is 2nd to Szalay in rebounding (9.0) ... Ricker is 2nd to the Bruins' Brent Satern in assists (6.67) ...
* Tue., Dec. 6, 7:30 pm - vs. Corban College (2-1, 0-0), Newberg, Ore.
Broadcast/Webcast on KFOX radio ... The Warriors from Salem, Ore., (formerly Western Baptist) are members of the NAIA and the Cascade Collegiate Conference ... Series record: GFU leads 47-32 (23-14 home, 24-18 road) ... The Warriors took the first meeting this season on Nov. 22 in Salem 108-100 behind Eric Fiegi's 44 points, 17 boards, and 7 blocked shots. Fiegi married former George Fox women's cage star Kellie Thomas this past summer ... Phil Heu-Weller and Chris Parker had 20 points and Scott Szalay had a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Bruins in that game ... The Bruins' last win in the series came in their last previous meeting, 89-76 in Salem on Dec. 10, 1999 ... The Warriors have three double-figure scorers: NAIA First Team All-American Fiegi (27.1), Eastern Oregon transfer Chris Lynn (15.4), and Nevada transfer Ryan Heil (10.6) ... Fiegi leads in rebounding (11.3) ...
COACH MARK SUNDQUIST
Mark Sundquist (Seattle Pacific '89) is 47-80 (.370) to date in his 6th 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:
Whitworth - 4-6 (2-3 home, 2-3 road)
Whitman - 4-6 (3-2 home, 1-4 road)
Corban - 0-1 (0-1 road)
BRUIN BITS:
* Heu-Weller HM for NWC "Player of the Week" for Nov. 21-27
Junior wing Phil Heu-Weller scored 20 points as the Bruins fell 108-100 on Nov. 22 in their only game of the week, receiving honorable mention for Northwest Conference "Player of the Week" for Nov. 21-27. He hit 7-13 from the field (4-5 on 3's) and 2-3 from the line, with 9 rebounds and an assist. An honorable mention All-NWC honoree last year for the Bruins after transfering from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps after his freshman season, he was NWC Player of the Week for Nov. 14-20, the first week of the season.
* 2005-06 Honors:
Phil Heu-Weller - NWC "Player of the Week" (Nov. 14-20)
* Double-Doubles:
Scott Szalay: Career 10, season 3 - 14 pts/13 reb vs. Northwest, 11/19; 14 pts/12 reb at Corban, 11/22; 10 pts/13 reb vs. Northwest Christian, 11/29
Brent Satern: Career 1, season 1 - 13 pts/10 ast vs. Northwest, 11/19
* Bruins 10 Wins Away from Historic 1,000th Win
With a 2-1 record in their first three games this year, the George Fox Bruins now have an all-time record of 990-1,015-1 (.494) in their 102nd season of competition. Needing 10 more wins to reach 1,000 in their history, the Bruins are certainly hopeful of reaching that goal this season!
* Career Lists: Heu-Weller, Parker, Schmick Among All-Time Best at FT Line
Aaron Schmick: With 17 points in the Bruins' only game of the week, Schmick now has 1,085 for his career, 26th on the GFU all-time list. Ahead are Howard Crow (1,090, 1957-61), Dan Newman (1,092, 1986-88), Phil Barnhart (1,112, 1977-81), and Sammy Ibarra (1,112, 1970-73) ... Schmick entered the season with the 11th-best career free throw pct. (.815, 234-287). After going 4-6 vs. NW Christian, he is at .813 (243-299), still 11th ...
Phil Heu-Weller began the season with the 2nd-best free throw pct. in Bruin history (.868, 66-76). He was 1-2 vs. NW Christian and is now at .859 (73-85), still 2nd ...
Scott Szalay had 2 blocked shots vs. NW Christian and now has 69 for his career. He needs 5 to tie Rick Schlachter (74, 1986-90) and Curtis Kimbrough (74, 1983-87) for 7th on the all-time list ...
Chris Parker entered the season 8th in career free throw pct. (.821, 87-106). He was 7-7 vs. NW Christian and is now at .831 (98-118), climbing two spots to 6th ...
* NWC Stats: Parker 1st in League in FG Pct., 2nd in FT Pct.
Where the Bruins ranks in the latest Northwest Conference stats (thru Nov. 29):
Scoring Offense - 1st (95.0)
Scoring Defense - 7th (87.3)
Scoring Margin - 3rd (+7.7)
Field Goal Pct. - 1st (.543)
3-Pt Field Goals - 2nd (10.00)
3-Pt Field Goal Pct. - 1st (.526)
Free Throw Pct. - 2nd (.724)
Field Goal Pct. Defense - 4th (.490)
3-Pt Field Goal Pct. Defense - 8th (.474)
Rebounding Offense - 6th (33.7)
Rebounding Defense - 3rd (33.7)
Rebounding Margin - 5th (0.0)
Assists - 1st (21.33)
Blocked Shots - 1st, T (3.33)
Steals - 4th (7.33)
Turnover Margin - 6th (+0.67)
Assist/Turnover Ratio - 2nd (1.49/1)
Phil Heu-Weller is 2nd in scoring (21.0), 3rd in 3-pt field goals (3.33), 7th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.500, T), blocked shots (0.67, T), 10th in free throw pct. (.778), 11th in steals (1.67, T), 15th in field goal pct. (.535), 18th in rebounding (4.7) ...
Aaron Schmick is 2nd in 3-pt field goals (3.67), 4th in scoring (18.7), 6th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.550), 11th in field goal pct. (.581), 13th in free throw pct. (.750, T) ...
Scott Szalay is 1st in rebounding (12.7), blocked shots (2.00, T), 14th in field goal pct. (.538), 19th in scoring (12.7) ...
Ben Melvin is 1st in 3-pt field goal pct. (.750, T), 5th in assists (4.00, T), assist/turnover ratio (2.00/1, T) ...
Brent Satern is 1st in assists (7.0), 4th in assist/turnover ratio (2.10/1), 6th in steals (2.00, T), 14th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.429, T), 20th in rebounding (4.3, T), 27th in scoring (10.7, T) ...
Chris Parker is 1st in field goal pct. (.708), 2nd in free throw pct. (.917), 11th in scoring (15.0) ...
Brady Strutz is 5th in assist/turnover ratio (2.00/1, T), 7th in assists (3.33, T), 11th in steals (1.67, T) ...
Nate Mansfield is 1st in 3-pt field goal pct. (.750, T) ...
For the latest NWC statistics, go to www.nwcsports.com.
* The Wirta Watch: "Biggs" to See 1,000th Game This Season
With the Bruins' first two games of the season, Mike "Biggs" Wirta, George Fox's statistical guru, has stretched his string of keeping statistics at George Fox men's basketball contests, home and road, to 566 in a row, and to 417 in a row at home. The last home game he missed was in 1972. He has now seen 978 men's games altogether and, barring any unforseen circumstances, should observe his 1,000th game on the last day of the regular season, vs. Willamette at home on Feb. 18 ...
* Halftime Promotions 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 2005-06 season, including:
"Halftime Hoop Shoot/Half-Court 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, unless a long halftime entertainment performance requires most of the 15-minute break. Tickets for $1 are sold in the gym lobby until just before halftime, and one lucky ticketholder is selected to shoot. Five dollars' worth of coupons to the Coffee Cottage is awarded for each one of three shots (free throw, three-pointer, and half-court shot) that is made.
A made half-court shot also earns the shooter the Country Financial "pot" for the evening, which increases by $50 at each game if no shot is made (the pot begins at $50 at the start of each team's season). All proceeds from the ticket sales go to the GFU basketball programs as a donation.
"Shootout at Coyote Joe's Corral" - New this year is the "Shootout at Coyote Joe's Corral", sponsored by Coyote Joe's expresso shop on Highway 99 North in Newberg. Four game programs at each game are signed by a Bruin player, and whoever has one of the autographed programs may enter the race. The contestants sit in chairs at mid-court, two chairs facing each goal, and must race toward the basketball goal at one end to make any shot of their choosing, then race back. One contestant on each side is eliminated, and the two survivors then do the same thing to determine an overall winner. The winner receives a coupon good for purchases at Coyote Joe's.
Other special promotions, mainly during the second semester, will be announced as plans for each are finalized.