Men's Basketball Release
12/22 - GEORGE FOX 90, CHAPMAN 85: Bruins Secure Winning California Trip by Defeating Panthers
ORANGE, Calif. - With six players scoring in double figures, the George Fox University Bruins secured a winning record on their three-game road trip to southern California by knocking off the Chapman University Panthers 90-85 in a non-conference men's basketball game Thursday night here at the Hutton Sports Center.
George Fox finished with a 2-1 record in California, winning at Whittier and losing to La Verne earlier in the week, and is now 8-2 overall. Chapman, 8-4, dropped its fourth in a row after opening the season with eight straight wins.
The Bruins jumped out to a 4-0 lead on jumpers by Brent Satern and Aaron Schmick and never trailed in the game, but had to shoot 66.0% (33-50) to maintain their lead as the Panthers connected on 51.7% (30-58). The Bruins led by as many as 13 in the first half when Chris Parker scored to make it a 23-10 game with 14:02 left, and were up by six at the break 50-44.
Scott Szalay's rebound basket with 7:30 to go in the game enabled the Bruins to again take a 13-point lead at 79-66. The Panthers rallied, however, behind the hot hand of Patrick Carney, who scored 11 points in a 19-8 run that cut the deficit to two points at 87-85 with a minute-and-a-half to play. Phil Heu-Weller nailed two free throws with 18 seconds left and Schmick added another one with 3 seconds remaining for the final score.
Schmick and Heu-Weller led the Bruins with 16 points apiece, Szalay added 15, Brady Strutz had a career-high 13, Parker finished with 11, and Satern tallied 10. Schmick passed out 4 assists, while Satern had 4 steals and Szalay 3 blocks on defense. Szalay and Strutz had 5 rebounds each for the Bruins, who were out-rebounded 26-22 in a game in which there were not many missed shots.
Carney finished with a game-high 26 points for the Panthers, Greg Perrine added 19, Zach Wheatley and Rob Selway had 12 each, and Richard Coombs scored 10. Wheatley had 4 assists, while Perrine and Selway pulled down 6 boards apiece.
The Bruins are off until Friday, Jan. 6, when they return to Northwest Conference action at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. Game time is 8:00 p.m. following the women's game at 6:00 p.m. The Panthers play again Friday, Dec. 30, at Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii, game time at 7:30 p.m.