Press Release
Overall 4-7: Home 2-3, Road 1-1, Neutral 1-3
NWC 0-2, 7th T: Home 0-2, Road 0-0
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Quick Facts / Roster / Schedule / Statistics / Results / Press Releases / Box Scores
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Recent Games: Bruins Open NWC Play with Losses to PLU, #10 UPS
* Coming Up: First Two NWC Road Games at Willamette, Linfield
* Satern BAA Athlete of the Week, HM for NWC Honors
* Big Man O'Connell Posts Big Numbers vs. #10 UPS
* NCAA Stats: Satern Ranks 6th Nationally in Assists
* NWC Stats: Satern Tops League in Assists, 4th in Steals
* Career Lists: Satern Moves into 8th in All-Time Assists
* The Wirta Watch: Home Streak for "Biggs" Reaches 443 Games
RECENT GAMES: 0-2 (click on links for press releases and box scores)
Jan. 4 - Pacific Lutheran 61, at George Fox 58
Jan. 5 - #10 Puget Sound 90, at George Fox 78
COMING UP: First Two NWC Road Games at Willamette, Linfield
Fri., Jan. 11, 8:00 p.m. - at Willamette University, in Salem, Ore.
Sat., Jan. 12, 8:00 p.m. - at Linfield College, in McMinnville, Ore.
Willamette (3-8, NWC 1-1, 4th T) - KFOX radio webcast ... Northwest Conference game ... The Bearcats from Salem, Ore., were picked 6th in the NWC pre-season coaches poll, the Bruins 7th ... Series record: George Fox trails 30-41 since 1967 (18-12 home, 12-29 road) ... The teams split last year, the Bruins winning 72-52 in Newberg on Jan. 12 before the Bearcats won 84-79 in Salem on Feb. 9 ... Willamette is coming off a 72-65 overtime loss at home to Whitworth ... Willamette averages 70.9 ppg (7th in the NWC) and allows 75.5 (5th) ... Willamette is 32nd nationally in 3-pt field goal pct. (.391, 5th in the NWC) ... The Bearcats have two players in double-figure scoring: P Kyler McClary (15.2, 8th) and W Mike Smith (15.0, 9th) ... P Cameron Mitchell is the top rebounder (6.8, 4th) ... PG Robbie Kunke is the assists leader (4.27, 5th) ... Coach Gordie James (Cal Poly-Pomona '64) is 337-212 to date in his 22nd season at Willamette ... Next game: Jan. 12 at Pacific Lutheran, 8 p.m. ...
Linfield (7-4, NWC 2-0, 2nd) - KFOX radio webcast ... Northwest Conference game ... The Wildcats from McMinnville, Ore., were picked 8th in the NWC pre-season coaches poll, the Bruins 7th ... Series record: George Fox leads 39-37 since 1971 (21-15 home, 18-21 road, 0-1 neutral) ... The Bruins have won the last three meetings, including 91-85 in Newberg on Nov. 28 and 65-64 in McMinnville on Jan. 23 last year ... The Wildcats' last win in the series was 81-71 in McMinnville on Jan. 10, 2006 ... Linfield is coming off a 109-81 win over Whitman at home on Jan. 5, its second win in a row ... Linfield averages 81.9 ppg (4th in the NWC, 35th nationally) while allowing 79.7 (7th) ... Linfield is 23rd nationally in 3-pt field goals (8.00) and 29th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.400) ... The Wildcats have three double-figure scorers: C K.C. Wiser (13.5, 15th), G Steve Taylor (13.4, 17th), and F Erik Olson (11.5, 22nd) ... Taylor set a Linfield record with 10 3-pt field goals in the Whitman game on Jan. 5, the 3rd-most in a game nationally this season ... Wiser is the op rebounder (6.3, 7th) ... PG Cody Tesoro is the assists leader (2.55) ... Coach Larry Doty (Linfield '78) is 281-256 to date in his 21st season at Linfield ... The Wildcats are at Puget Sound Friday before meeting the Bruins ... Next game: Jan. 15 vs. Willamette, 8 p.m. ...
Click here for the latest NWC Standings.
COACH MARK SUNDQUIST
Mark Sundquist (Seattle Pacific '89) is 77-108 (.416) in his eighth season as a college head coach, all at George Fox. He was the NWC Coach of the Year in 2004-05 for leading the Bruins to an 18-7 record and 2nd place in the conference. Click here for the complete bio on Coach Sundquist.
Sundquist vs. upcoming opponents
Willamette - 2-12 (2-5 home, 0-7 road)
Linfield - 5-10 (3-4 home, 2-5 road, 0-1 neutral)
BRUIN BITS:
* Satern BAA Athlete of the Week, HM for NWC Honors
Senior point guard Brent Satern has been named the Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week for Dec. 31-Jan. 6 with three good efforts despite a 0-3 week for the Bruins. In a 79-69 loss to Wisconsin-Platteville on Dec. 31, he had 20 points on 4-5 from the field and 12-14 from the line, with 6 assists, 4 steals and a rebound. In a 61-58 loss to Pacific Lutheran on Jan. 4, he had 17 po9nts on 7-20 from the field (1-5 on threes) and 2-7 from the linem, with 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. In a 90-78 loss to #10 Puget Sound on Jan. 5, he had 14 points on 4-12 from the field and 6-7 from the line, with 9 assists. In three games, he totaled 51 points (17.0) on 15-37 (.405) field goals, including 1-6 (.167) on threes, and 20-28 (.714) free throws, with 7 rebounds, 21 assists, and 8 steals.
Satern also received honorable mention for Northwest Conference Player of the Week for Dec. 27-Jan. 6, which included Bruin games on Dec. 28-29. In those two contests, he had 18 points and 9 assists in a 60-57 win over Heidelberg, and 16 points and 2 assists in a 63-57 loss to York (N.Y.). In five games, he scored 85 points (17.0) on 27-61 field goals (.443), including 5-13 (.385) on threes, and 26-39 (.667) free throws, with 8 rebounds, 32 assists, and 10 steals.
* 2007-08 Honors:
Evan Atwater
- Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week (Nov. 12-18; Dec. 3-9)
- NWC Player of the Week (HM, Nov. 12-18; HM, Dec. 3-9)
Mark Metzler
- Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week (Nov. 19-25)
- NWC Player of the Week (HM, Nov. 19-25)
Brent Satern
- Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week (Dec. 17-23; Dec. 24-30; Dec. 31-Jan. 6)
- NWC Player of the Week (HM, Dec. 17-26; HM, Dec. 27-Jan. 6)
* Big Man O'Connell Posts Big Numbers vs. #10 UPS
Bryan O'Connell, George Fox's 6-9 sophomore center, had the biggest night of his young career against the 10th-ranked Puget Sound Loggers on Jan. 5 when he scored a game and career-high 23 points, connecting on 9-13 from the field and 5-7 from the free throw line. His previous best had been 14 points in the Bruins' 60-57 win over Heidelberg on Dec. 28 in the Surf-n-Slam Tournament in San Diego, Calif. Several of his early points came on wide-open layups off length-of-the-court passes when the Loggers were trying full-court pressure against the Bruins. George Fox led by as many as 12 points in the second half before the Loggers rallied for a 90-78 victory.
* NCAA Stats: Satern Ranks 6th Nationally in Assists
In the latest NCAA Division III national statistics report (including games thru Jan. 6), Brent Satern is 6th in assists (7.1), and 27th in assist/TO ratio (2.52) ...
* NWC Stats: Satern Tops League in Assists, 4th in Steals
Where the Bruins rank in the latest Northwest Conference stats (thru Jan. 8):
Scoring Offense - 8th (65.0)
Scoring Defense - 2nd (67.0)
Scoring Margin - 6th (-2.0)
Field Goal Pct. - 8th (.402)
Field Goal Pct. Defense - 3rd (.441)
3-Pt Field Goals - 8th (5.91)
3-Pt Field Goal Pct. - 9th (.289)
3-Pt Field Goal Pct. Defense - 2nd (.285)
Free Throw Pct. - 8th (.652)
Rebounding Offense - 8th (34.3)
Rebounding Defense - 7th (37.2)
Rebounding Margin - 8th (-2.9)
Assists - 6th (14.73)
Blocked Shots - 4th (1.91)
Steals - 3rd (7.73)
Turnover Margin - 4th (+2.09)
Assist/Turnover Ratio - 4th (0.99)
- Brent Satern is 1st in assists (7.09), 2nd in assist/TO ratio (2.52), 4th in steals (1.82), 13th in scoring (14.1, T) ...
- Evan Atwater is 4th in free throw pct. (.833), 6th in 3-point field goals (2.82), 10th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.403), 13th in scoring (14.1, T) ...
- Mark Metzler is 6th in blocked shots (0.55, T), 14th in rebounding (5.6), assists (2.36), 15th in steals (1.18, T) ...
- Taylor Martin is 13th in blocked shots (0.36, T) ...
- Bryan O'Connell is 13th in blocked shots (0.36, T) ...
Click here for the latest NWC Statistics.
* Career Lists: Satern Moves into 8th in All-Time Assists
- Brent Satern had 15 assists in the Bruins' two NWC games last week, giving him 78 for the season and 416 for his career, moving him past Tom Hewitt (404, 1973-77) into 8th on the GFU all-time list. Ahead is Phil Barnhart (428, 1977-81) ...
* The Wirta Watch: Home Streak for "Biggs" Reaches 443 Games
Mike "Biggs" Wirta, who has been charting basketball statistics for the George Fox men's team game since the 1970-71 season while he was an undergraduate student, hit a major milestone with the Bruins' second game vs. Colorado College in the Colorado College Tipoff Tournament on Nov. 16. It was the 1,027th game he had seen, which was exactly half of the 2,054 games that had been played in 104 years of Bruin basketball. With the Bruins' two NWC games this past week, he has now seen 50.2% of all Bruin games ever played (1,036 of 2,063). He stretched his streak of consecutive GFU men's basketball games seen, both home and road, to 624. He has worked 443 in a row at home, not missing a home game since 1972 when he was in military service.