Feb. 4 NWC Basketball Wrap (Stories provided by host SID office)

Women: Linfield 57, at Lewis & Clark 51

Portland, Ore. -- It wasn't pretty, but the Linfield Wildcats did move to .500 in NWC action on Tuesday night.

In a game that featured a combined 44 turnovers and 50 fouls, Linfield moved to 5-5 (11-8 overall) with a 57-51 victory over Lewis & Clark. The Pioneers dropped to 2-9 in league and 7-13 overall in the two-hour affair.

Linfield jumped to an early lead by scoring 11 of the games first 13 points. L&C scored the next six points to move the score to 11-8, and set the tone for the game. Each team took their turn going on scoring runs, with neither squad ever getting into a rhythm due to multiple stops in play. Late free throws by the Wildcats gave them the last surge of the first half and a 29-20 lead.

The plodding play continued in the second half. It took over six minutes for the two teams to score a combined 10 points. They traded baskets to keep the difference at nine, until the Pioneers' Marcy Manibusan and Kim McBride hit back-to-back three pointers, cutting the deficit to three and giving the game some life. Monica Schwing and Lacey Conroy pushed the lead back to seven with a combined 4-of-4 from the charity stripe on the Wildcats next two trips down the floor.

The game remained between three and seven points the rest of the way, except a coast-to-coast score by L&C freshman guard Tamika Hardy that made the score 44-42, only to have Linfield move back ahead by five. The Pioneers stayed close throughout, but a baseline jumper from Lindsay Sticka and a pair of free throws from Heidi Jurgens - both with under a minute left - closed the door. The shots gave Linfield a seven point advantage and desperation fouls by L&C allowed the Wildcats to earn free shots and win by ten.

Hardy led the Pioneers with 15 points, while Lindsay Tarr and Kim McBride added eight apiece.

Men:  At Lewis & Clark 94, Linfield 89

Portland, Ore. -- Earlier this season, Linfield hit a last second shot to beat Lewis & Clark 73-72. The Pioneers came out with revenge on their mind, starting off hot and then maintaining that lead for a 94-89 NWC win.

The win gave the Pioneers a tighter grip on third place in the NWC as they moved to 8-3 in league and 13-7 overall. They are behind Whitworth and Willamette in the league standings, both of which they face on the over the next 10 days. Meanwhile, it dropped the next closest team in the standings, Linfield, to 5-5 in conference and 12-7 overall.

Linfields' Spencer Crossland scored the games first two points, and the Pioneers scored the next 20 with a barrage of three pointers. Jeff Dunn stopped the Pioneers run with a jumper to put Linfield behind 20-4, just to have L&C's Ryan Wells drop a three for the a 19-point lead. That lead didn't stand though, as the Wildcats regrouped and steadily played back into the game. Led by senior O.J. Gulley, who was 3-of-4 from the three point arch in the first half, the 'Cats cut the deficit to nine by halftime. Gulley had 13 first half points to lead all players at the break.

But the real action took place in the second half. The second half opened with a trading of baskets, but threes by seniors Danny Winchester and Matt Stanley and a three-point play from forward Colin Oriard put the Pioneers back up by 15. The Wildcats answered yet again, thanks to sophomores Jeff Dunn and Matt Larson and juniors Travis Jones and Jeff Fusare. While Gulley was held to a three-pointer in the second half, the foursome scored 43 of their combined 57 points in the second half.

The Wildcats came within two thanks to an intentional foul call on Winchester. Dunn hit o1-of-2 free throws and than sank a three-pointer to move the score to 85-83. But the Pioneers had some heroes of their own. Freshman Ryan Wells hit four of his game high five three-pointers in the second half, while Winchester and classmate Oriard contributed with their veteran play. Oriard scored nine of L&C's final 16 points and Winchester was 4-of-4 from the free throw line during the closing minute.

Gulley, Fusare, and Jones each scored 16 followed by Dunn with 15 and Larson with 10. Oriard dropped in 18 of his game high 25 points in the second half, while grabbing 13 boards and dishing out seven assists. Winchester finished with 18 and Wells and senior Kristofer Speier each added 16. Speier also had 11 rebounds.

George Fox 82, at Multnomah Bible College 68

Portland, Ore. -- With all 11 players getting into the scoring act, the George Fox University Bruins pulled away from the Multnomah Bible College Ambassadors early in the second half and ended a four-game losing streak with an 82-68 win in non-conference men’s basketball Tuesday night at the Multnomah Gym.

The game began as a close one, with five ties and five lead changes in the first 10 minutes, but the Bruins gradually pulled away and led by as many as 10 before settling for a 41-34 advantage at the break.  The Ambassadors closed within one at 45-44 on a pair of free shots by Sam Duke with 17:02 to play, but Multnomah could never regain the lead.  A 15-4 run over the next four minutes put George Fox back in control, and the Bruins never slipped under a double-digit lead the rest of the way.  Their largest margin came with 3:20 left when Trevor Person’s free throw made it 78-59.

Zach Hollin had 15 points to lead the Bruins, Mark Gayman added 13 in only 14 minutes of playing time, and John Macy scored 10.  Macy and Dan Gugliotta had 6 rebounds apiece as the Bruins out-rebounded their hosts 38-31. Person had 8 assists.  As a team, the Bruins shot 50.8% from the field (30-59).

Matt Conboy had 23 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Ambassadors, while Duke added 18 points.  Ryan Franklin handed out 6 assists.

George Fox improved to 7-12 on the season, while Multnomah dropped to 9-16.