Jan. 24 NWC Men’s Basketball Wrap (Stories provided by host SID Office)

At Willamette 76, George Fox 60

Salem, Ore. – Harold Sublett Jr. and Miles Sandgathe sparked a 22-9 run in the middle 10 minutes of the second half Friday to lead Willamette to a 76-60 Northwest Conference victory over George Fox.

The victory kept Willamette undefeated (7-0) at Cone Field House and the Bearcats improved to 12-3 overall and 6-1 in the NWC. The Bruins dropped to 6-10 and 1-7, respectively.

George Fox was in the game most of the way until the Bearcats boosted their lead to 15 points with four minutes remaining.

Willamette had leads of 19-9 and 31-19 in the first half, but the pesky Bruins scored the final 11 points of the half to close to within 31-30 at intermission. GFU’s  Mark Gayman scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the opening period, most on mid-range fade-away jumpers.

The two teams split the first 20 points of the second half before WU began to pull away from a 41-40 edge. Sublett Jr. scored eight points and Sandgathe tallied six in the critical run that made the score 63-49 with 5:29 remaining.

Sublett Jr., who had just one point at the half, finished the game with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Sandgathe finished with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field. Willamette¹s Marques Johnson scored 10 of his team¹s first 13 points and finished the night with 20 points and eight rebounds.

The Bruins stayed within range in the final period as Zach Hollin scored eight of his 14 points coming off the bench. He hit all six of his free throws, leading the Bruins to a perfect 12-for-12 night from the line.

Willamette shot 49.2 percent from the field, compared to 44.0 percent for GFU. But the Bruins hurt themselves with their ball-handling, committing 21 turnovers to just 10 for the hosts.

George Fox has Saturday night off, while Willamette travels to Pacific Lutheran.

At Linfeld 80, Pacific 74

McMinnville, Ore. – Linfield rode a 20-2 first-half spurt all the way to an 80-74 victory over Northwest Conference rival Pacific Friday night at noisy Ted Wilson Gym. Oft-injured Wildcats all-star O.J. Gulley saw his first action since being sidelined with a hamstring injury three weeks ago. Gulley scored just nine points and his presence proved more inspiration than perspiration.

Matt Larson topped Linfield in scoring with 14 points, Travis Jones had 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Cornell Williams added 10 points as the Wildcats won their second straight.

Pacific's Erin Gram scored a game-high 17 points but suffered through a 4 for 15 shooting night. Nick Kelsey hit 6 of 10 for 16 points to go with five rebounds and five steals.

Pacific got a fast start, going in front 6-1 during the games first two minutes. The Boxers led 19-10 after nine minutes following Nick Kelsey's inbounds steal and layup. The Wildcats struggled mightily from the field, making their two of their first 11 shots.

That's when Linfield launched its game-altering 20-2 run. Trailing 22-12, Wildcats center Nick Fusare scored on a soft jumper from close range, then stole a pass in the Boxers backcourt and fed Pat McConn for a layup. Linfield tied the game at 22 on Jones' two free throws at 7:59, and Larson gave Linfield its first lead of the game with a three-pointer from the right side.

Through the first game's 15 minutes, Pacific made 10 baskets to the Wildcats' five, but Linfield cashed in 16 of 18 free throw attempts to lead 27-24. Linfield's margin ballooned to double digits when Larson stole the ball and fed Gulley for a layin with 2:37 left in the period. Free throws by Jeff Dunn and Spencer Crossland, and a layup by Rob Jensen gave the Wildcats a comfortable 44-29 lead at the break.

For the half, the Wildcats outrebounded Pacific 20-13. The real disparity of the first half was at the line. Linfield attempted 22 free throws, making 20. The Boxers were awarded just five attempts, sinking four.

Pacific pulled to within eight, 59-51, on Gram's bucket with 11 minutes left. A three-point play by Phil Burns inched the Boxers closer, 71-65. A Gram three-pointer drew the Boxers to withing five, 73-68. Burns made it a three-point game with a crafty steal and layin, but Matt Kitchen answered with a bucket at 1:07 to put the Wildcats on top 75-70. Tufts missed an open three-pointer with 50 seconds remaining, then Larson converted a pair of free throws for a seven-point cushion. Kelsey's three-pointer from the corner made it 77-73, but Gulley was fouled and made both attempts.

Linfield shot .462 to the Boxers' .403. The Wildcats outboarded the visitors 41-34 and converted 28 free throws compared with PU's 13.

Linfield is on the road Saturday to face Puget Sound at Memorial Fieldhouse in Tacoma, Wash. Pacific returns to action Friday at home against Whitworth.

At Lewis & Clark 102, Whitman 93 (2ot)

Portland, Ore. – (From Whitman College) The Whitman men's basketball team found itself on the losing end of a double-overtime thriller Friday night in Northwest Conference play versus Lewis & Clark College. Lewis & Clark, the defending NWC champion, jumped ahead early in the second extra period and held on for a 102-93 victory. The loss drops the Missionaries to 5-12 on the season, 2-6 in conference. The Pioneers are 9-7, 4-3.

Whitman never trailed in the first half, taking an initial 2-0 lead off a Kyle Dalvit layup and building it to 15 points off a Scott Erickson three- pointer with 7:06 to play. The Missionaries had a hot hand, making 60 percent of their shots, including eight of 12 three-pointers. At halftime the lead was 11, 46-35.

During the second half, Whitman built its lead to 14 points with 12:13 left to play in the game off of another three-point shot, this one from Greg Caldwell. Over the next six minutes, however, the Pioneers hit four shots from behind the arc during a 20-1 run.

Trailing 72-67 with 6:46 to play, Whitman rolled off five straight points and tied the game at 72-72. Neither team built more than a three-point lead during the rest of the period. Caldwell hit another three-pointer with 46 seconds left, sending the game into overtime tied at 77-77.

Whitman controlled the first overtime, leading 86-83 with 1:35 to play, but the Pioneers connected from long range with 39 seconds remaining, and the game continued tied at 86-86.

Lewis & Clark streaked ahead with eight straight points to open the second overtime, and held on to win the game, 102-93.

Caldwell finished with a game high 30 points, hitting eight out of ten three-pointers, and added eight rebounds. Scott Erickson had 14 points and 11 assists while shooting six for 16. Freshman Greg Ricker also had 14 points, hitting eight of ten free-throws and two of four shots from the floor.

Dalvit hit six of eleven shots in finishing with 12 points and ten rebounds. As a team, the Missionaries shots 51.5 percent from the floor, hitting 15 of 28 from long range.

Whitman travels to George Fox and Pacific next weekend for games on Friday and Saturday night.

At Pacific Lutheran 49, Puget Sound 46

Tacoma, Wash. – No report