Press Release
12/29 - YORK 63, GEORGE FOX 57: Cardinals Escape Bruins to Secure Surf-n-Slam Title
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - In a classic case of hot vs. cold, the York College (N.Y.) Cardinals shot .618 from the field to only .294 for the George Fox University Bruins, and needed that big a margin to escape with a 63-57 win in the championship game of the Surf-n-Slam men's basketball Tournament Saturday afternoon here at San Diego City College's Harry West Gym.
The first half was tight throughout, with five ties and four lead changes. The Bruins held an early 14-7 lead after Evan Atwater canned a three-pointer seven minutes into the game, but the Cardinals from Jamaica, N.Y., responded with an 11-2 run, capped by a Chris Roberts layup and free throw, for an 18-16 lead with 7:09 remaining in the period. The Cardinals clung to that narrow lead the rest of the half and took a 30-26 lead into the break after shooting .706 (12-17) to .292 (7-24) for the Bruins. George Fox stayed close by grabbing nine offensive rebounds and turning them into 10 points.
George Fox finally regained the lead in the second half 34-33 on a jumper by Brent Satern with 15:18 left, but the game got away from the Bruins over the next six minutes as they missed six shots, made three turnovers, and were assessed a technical foul. The Cardinals capitalized by scoring 14 unanswered points, taking a 47-34 lead with 9:31 left on a three-pointer by Jonathan Winns.
The Bruins battled back and three times came within three points, the last at 59-56 with 26 seconds left when Atwater was fouled on a three-point attempt and sank all three charity tosses. A layup by Roberts and two free throws by Michael Salamanca in the final 15 seconds sealed the tournament title for York, however, off-setting a final free throw by Satern.
Atwater led the Bruins with 25 points, including a 9-9 night from the line, and Satern scored 16, but the rest of the team managed only 16 points collectively. The Bruins hit 15-51 from the field, including 7-27 (.259) from three-point range. Mark Metzler and Bryan O'Connell had five rebounds apiece as the Bruins held a 27-26 edge on the glass, 18 of them offensive boards. Metzler also had three assists and three steals.
Omari Phipps came off the bench to lead the Cardinals with 26 points, hitting 9-12 from the field and 8-10 from the line, while Roberts finished with 15, hitting 6-7 field goals. York sank 21-34 from the floor. Phipps also had a game-high nine rebounds, and Salamanca handed out eight assists.
In the consolation game earlier in the afternoon, Heidelberg College earned third place with a 74-60 win over Nichols College.
Satern was named to the All-Tournament Team, along with Chris Vallee of Nichols, Brian Schmidt of Heidelberg, and Roberts and Salamanca of York. Roberts was named the Surf-n-Slam MVP.
George Fox (4-4) remains in San Diego to take on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Monday at 2:30 p.m. in a neutral-site game at Point Loma Nazarene University. Point Loma is providing LiveStats of the game on its men's basketball web site at www.pointloma.edu/Athletics/Livestats.htm. It will be the final non-conference game of the season for the Bruins, who open up Northwest Conference play Friday at 8:00 p.m. at home against Pacific Lutheran University.