Jan. 7 NWC Basketball Wrap (Stories provided by host SID)

At Lewis & Clark (women) 70, Willamette 53

Portland, Ore. -- Both teams took their time warming up, but as the first half went on the Pioneers got hot and Willamette continued to struggle leading to an eventual 70-53 Lewis & Clark win on Tuesday.

The win moved L&C to 6-6 on the season and 1-2 in the Northwest Conference. It also gave Pioneer coach Missy Smith her first win over Willamette in six seasons at the helm. Willamette fell to 6-5, and 0-2 in league.

Midway through the first half the two teams had yet to combine for 20 points, but after getting over a battle with early turnovers L&C started to pull away. By halftime the scoreboard read 31-16 in favor of the Pioneers, mainly because WU was shooting just 16 percent from the field.

Willamette improved in the second half, thanks to 27 second half points from junior Deanna Lund, but L&C senior Kim McBride and junior Lindsay Tarr turned in key performances to preserve the lead. McBride scored 12 of her team high 19 points in the second half, while Tarr added 11. McBride was 4-of-4 from the three-point line in the game, and 6-of-7 from the field.

L&C led by as many as 19 points with four different players scoring in double digits. Tarr finished with 12, Nnenna Lewis dropped in 14 and Lindsay Sweetland contributed 11. Freshman Tamkia Hardy scored eight points to go along with her 10 assists.

Willamette (men) 77, at Lewis & Clark 70 (ot)

Portland, Ore. -- It started as a game controlled by the Pioneers. It turned into a game that was approaching an L&C blowout. It ended with a Willamette rally, and a 77-70 overtime shocker in favor of the Bearcats.

Playing the role of host on Tuesday, the Pioneers took leads of 15 in the first half and 16 in the second half, only to have the visiting Bearcats leave Pamplin Sports Center with a perfect conference record. The win moved Willamette to 8-2 on the season and 2-0 in the Northwest Conference . L&C fell to 6-6 and 1-2.

The Pioneers cruised to a 40-26 halftime behind 60 percent shooting from the field and 14 points from senior Kristofer Speier. But, it was Bearcat guard Ryan Hepp who stole the show. The senior went off, scoring18 points in the second half - including 11 of the Bearcats' last 13 in regulation - to rally his squad to a 67-66 score with 20 seconds left. Following an L&C miss, Marques Johnson was fouled on a layup attempt with just over five seconds left in the game. He hit one of two for the tie and a failed desperation shot by L&C missed the mark, sending the game into overtime.

Willamette's press also played a role in the WU comeback, holding the Pioneers scoreless in the final two minutes of the second half. L&C had only four turnovers at half, but finished with 12.

L&C senior Colin Oriard scored the first point of overtime with a free throw, but the Bearcats went on a 4-0 run with baskets from Hepp and B.J. Dobrkovsky - which turned out to be the winning points. Hepp finished with a game high 24 points and Mile Sandgathe scored four points in overtime to finish with 17.

Speier had a great night for L&C with 23 points on 11-of-17 shooting and 10 rebounds. Oriard had 12, and guard Nate Kabanuck had a good night controlling the offense had nine points and five assists before fouling out.

At George Fox (men) 85, Northwest Christian 76

Newberg, Ore. -- With 60 percent of their season still to play, the George Fox University Bruins equaled their win total for all of the 2001-02 season with their 5th victory, an 85-76 decision over the Northwest Christian College Crusaders in a non-conference men's basketball game Tuesday night at the Wheeler Sports Center.

Branden Whitney's free throw 13 seconds into the game proved to be the only lead the Crusaders would have all night.  Bryan Wadlow hit a short jumper in the lane at the 19:10 mark to give George Fox a 2-1 lead, and the Bruins never trailed again.  An 11-0 run midway through the first half enabled the Bruins to stretch a slim 19-17 lead to 30-17 with 8:30 left in the half, and the Crusaders got no closer than nine the rest of the game.  The Bruins' largest lead was 24 at 75-51 with 7:32 left, before the Crusaders made a late run with George Fox subs in the game to make the final score respectable.

Mark Gayman led all scorers with 20 points for the Bruins, 10 in each half, while Trevor Person added 13, and Wadlow and Brett Yeager had 11 each.  Gayman with 8 rebounds and Zach Hollin with 7 led the way on the boards as the Bruins out-rebounded their opponents for the first time this season 43-32.  Person had 6 assists, and Nate Tyler led the defensive effort with 5 steals.

Steve Farley paced Northwest Christian with 15 points, followed by Whitney and Aaron Hegge with 12 each, and Micah Kehoe-Thompson with 10.  The Crusader's leading scorer, Pete Moore, was held to only 5 points.  Whitney had 8 boards for the Crusaders, Justin Kelly had 6 assists, and Jared Sand made 4 steals.

George Fox snapped a 3-game losing streak, evening its record at 5-5, and should better last year's 5-20 record.  Northwest Christian, which lost at home to the Bruins 85-75 earlier this season, lost its 6th in a row and fell to 4-12.

The Bruins return to Northwest Conference play this weekend, playing their first home conference game against Pacific University at 8:00 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 11).  The George Fox and Pacific women square off at 6:00 p.m.  The Crusaders return home to host Pacific next Tuesday (Jan. 14) at 7:30 p.m.