Press Release
12/19 - ST. MARTIN'S 72, GEORGE FOX 69: D-II Saints Hold Off D-III Bruins with Big Edge at Line
NEWBERG, Ore. - Galen Squiers' two free throws with 6.4 seconds left gave St. Martin's University a three-point lead and Mark Metzler's NBA-range three-point attempt to tie at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim, enabling the visiting Saints to escape with a 72-69 win over the George Fox University Bruins in a non-conference men's basketball game Wednesday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
Both teams had trouble holding double-digit leads, making it a close contest between the NCAA Division III Bruins and the D-II Saints. After Bill Richardson dunked to give the Saints an early 2-0 lead, the Bruins burst out to a 26-15 lead midway through the first half, led by point guard Brent Satern, who had 10 points and six assists in the first period. A layup by Matt Noble made it 30-20 with 5:09 left, but the Saints responded with a 13-0 run over the next three minutes, Brendan Campbell scoring eight of his 14 first-half points in that span to give St. Martin's a 33-30 lead. The Saints led 38-36 at the break after hitting 12 of 14 free throws while the Bruins never made it to the line.
George Fox came out cold in the second half, missing 12 of its first 17 shots while St. Martin's built a 12-point lead of its own twice, the last at 65-53 on a Nick Smith jumper with 7:52 left in the game. Satern, who had 13 second-half points, brought the Bruins back, his layup with 1:42 to go cutting the margin to one at 65-64. Baskets by Tyler Nixon and Jake Linton made it 69-64 Saints with 35 seconds left, but the Bruins' Evan Atwater nailed a three-pointer with 18 second to play, and after Squiers made the first of a one-and-one, Satern drove for a layup to make it a 70-69 game with seven seconds left.
Squiers was immediately fouled on the throw-in, but foiled the Bruins' strategy by hitting both charity tosses. With 6.4 ticks left, Satern drove into the middle and tried to find Atwater, who is third nationally in D-III in three-pointers per game (4.60), but he was well-covered, and the ball went instead to Metzler at the top of the key. His attempt from 25 feet away to send the game into overtime was straight toward the goal but a couple of inches short as the horn sounded.
Satern led all scorers with 23 points and passed out seven assists, while Atwater finished with 15 points. Metzler grabbed eight rebounds as the Bruins out-rebounded the bigger Saints 36-34. George Fox made more field goals than St. Martin's (27-26) and more threes (7-3), but lost the game at the foul line when the Saints sank 17-21 while the Bruins managed only 8-12.
Campbell was held in check in the second half but still led the Saints with 16 points, while Nixon and Richardson added 13 each and Linton tallied 11. Richardson topped the Saints with seven rebounds. Justin Alexander and Linton had two assists apiece for the Saints, who relied on plenty of one-on-one moves and offensive rebounds for their points.
George Fox (3-3) next plays on Friday, Dec. 28, against Heidelberg College in the Surf-n-Slam Tournament at San Diego City College in San Diego, Calif. Tipoff time is 2:00 p.m. St. Martin's (4-4) is off until Sunday, Dec. 30, when the Saints will host Concordia College of New York at 3:00 p.m.