Press Release
2/17 - LEWIS & CLARK 75, GEORGE FOX 63: Pioneers Rally Past Bruins for Share of NWC Title
NEWBERG, Ore. - Rallying from a 15-point deficit midway through the first period, the Lewis & Clark Pioneers earned a share of the Northwest Conference men's basketball title with a 75-63 victory over the upset-minded George Fox University Bruins on GFU's Homecoming Night Saturday here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
The Bruins jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a layup by Phil Heu-Weller and a three-pointer by Brady Strutz before the Pioneers used back-to-back conventional three-points plays by Jeff Christensen and Thomas Tillery for a 6-5 lead, the only time the Pios led in the first half. A jumper by Strutz put the Bruins back in front, sparking a 22-6 run that gave the home team a 15-point 27-12 lead with 8:10 left. The Pios then began to whittle away at the deficit, out-scoring the Bruins 18-6 the rest of the way to cut the gap to three, 33-30, at the intermission.
The Pios' Joey Toboni hit a three to open the second half, tying the score 33-33, and the teams battled on even terms over the next eight minutes, during which there were four more ties and 10 lead changes. Evan Atwater's three-pointer gave George Fox its last lead of 52-49 with 12:46 to play, but the Pios got a basket by Tyler Tsukazaki and a three by Corey Allen to take the lead for good 54-52 with 11:52 remaining. That was the beginning of a 16-0 run, capped by a David Berggren three, that put the Pios up 65-52 with 4:38 left and effectively cinched the game. The Bruins got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Chris Parker led the Bruins with 22 points, Strutz had 14, and Heu-Weller contributed 12. Parker and Heu-Weller, the Bruins' two seniors who were honored before the game, ended with 988 and 867 points respectively in their George Fox careers. Strutz had a team-high eight rebounds, while Brent Satern passed out seven assists and had three steals.
Berggren paced the Pios with 22 points, Tillery added 15, and Allen finished with 10. Gene Rivera led the Pioneers to a 38-32 advantage on the boards by pulling down eight rebounds and also blocked three shots. Tillery had three assists.
George Fox dropped below .500 for the first time all season and finished with 12-13 overall record, placing fifth in the conference with a 7-9 league mark. Lewis & Clark improved to 18-6 overall and tied Whitworth College for first place at 13-3 in the league.
For the NWC Tournament next week, Whitworth has the tiebreaker because the two co-champs split in head-to-head competition, and breaking ties working from the ninth-place team up, according to league by-laws, Whitworth beat fourth-place Pacific twice while Lewis & Clark split with Pacific. Third-place University of Puget Sound therefore goes to Lewis & Clark Wednesday, with the winner going to Whitworth Friday. The tournament winner gets the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.