Men's Basketball Release
12/6 - GEORGE FOX 87, CORBAN 82: Melvin's Career High Leads Bruins to Comeback Win over Warriors
NEWBERG, Ore. - Senior Ben Melvin scored a career-high 24 points and the George Fox University Bruins used a 20-1 run at the start of the second half to rally from 13 points down for an 87-82 win over the Corban College Warriors in a non-conference men's basketball game Tuesday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
The comeback win avenged the Bruins' only loss, a 108-100 setback to the Warriors in Salem on Nov. 22, as they improved to 5-1 on the season. The victory also marked a milestone for George Fox head coach Mark Sundquist, who picked up his 50th win as the Bruins' mentor (he is 50-80 in his 6th season). Corban dropped to 6-4.
After a close first five minutes, the Warriors broke a 10-10 tie on a three-point basket by Dan Buhler, a layup by Eric Fiegi, and threes by Joel Worcester and Jason Braun to take a 21-10 lead with 12:55 left in the period. The Warriors remained comfortably in front as Fiegi, the Warriors' 6-9 All-American center, poured in 27 in the half. Fiegi's basket with 30 seconds left gave the Warriors their largest lead at 50-35 before Melvin sank two free throws after the horn had sounded to make it 50-37 Corban at the break.
Melvin's three-pointer and a jumper ignited the Bruins as the second half got under way. A 10-0 run cut the Corban lead to 50-47 before Chris Lynn broke the string with a free throw, the only point for the Warriors in a seven-and-a-half minute span. The Bruins then reeled off 10 more unanswered points on a layup by Melvin and a basket and six free throws by Chris Parker, taking a 57-51 lead with 12:51 to play.
The Warriors recovered by going back to Fiegi, who scored 8 points over a five-minute stretch to knot the game at 63-63 with 7:45 to play. The Bruins' Brent Satern broke the deadlock with a jumper at 6:28 and the home team never trailed again. Fiegi hit two free throws to cut the deficit to one at 79-78 with 1:56 left, but Melvin nailed a critical three with 1:22 left for a four-point lead, and a layup by Parker and a free throw by Aaron Schmick made it a 7-point game at 85-78 with 40 seconds left, effectively sealing the win.
In addition to Melvin's 24, Parker finished with 18, including 10-12 from the charity stripe, Phil Heu-Weller contributed 14 second-half points after playing only four first-half minutes due to foul trouble, and Satern tossed in 13 along with 6 assists. Scott Szalay grabbed 9 rebounds. The Bruins shot only .308 (12-39) from the field in the first half, but sizzled in the second half at .571 (16-28).
Fiegi was "held" to only 12 second-half points as the Bruins often triple-teamed him and wound up with 39 for the Warriors, along with a game-high 13 rebounds. Lynn finished with 15 points and 6 assists, and Worcester had 13 points. The Warriors were hot in the first half, hitting .545 (18-33) from the floor, but cooled off considerably in the second half to only .250 (9-36).
George Fox returns to action Friday, hosting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges from California at 8:00 p.m. following a Bruin women's game against Western Oregon University at 6:00 p.m. Corban returns home to host its Corban College Classic Friday and Saturday, taking on the University of Great Falls at 8:00 p.m. Friday after Lewis-Clark State College meets Western Oregon University at 6:00 p.m.