Feb. 6 NWC Men’s Basketball Wrap (Stories provided by host SID)

At Puget Sound 111, George Fox 92

Tacoma, Wash. -- Puget Sound (16-2, 8-1) opened the second round of the NWC schedule with another dominating performance, defeating the visiting Bruins of George Fox (5-13, 1-8) 111-92.  In a match-up of two teams at opposite end of the conference standings, Puget Sound unleashed its' high octane attack to put away George Fox for good with an offensive outburst midway through the second-half.

Guard Matt Glynn continued his impressive play, scoring a game high 35 points, while contributing 6 rebounds, and a game high 9 assists.  Glynn was again the difference maker for the Loggers, as he began and ended the Loggers knockout rally. With Puget Sound clinging to a 6-point lead and10:30 showing on the clock, the senior took-over. 

In a span of two minutes 19 seconds Glynn got to the rim on an impressive stop and start move, nail two three pointers, and hit the backend of two foul shots.  About the only thing Glynn did wrong in the stretch was miss the front end of his trip to the line, breaking his season high steak of 36 straight made free throws.  A Bruin timeout stopped the run, but the damage had been done, as the Loggers were up 95-80 with 8:27 to play.  The Bruins would never get it closer then twelve down the stretch, before a final push gave the Loggers the 19-point win.

Bryan Wadlow led four George Fox players in double figures with 21.  Forward Mark Gayman was impressive from the floor, scoring 19 on 9 of 13 shooting and grabbing a team high 8 rebounds.  Guard Ben Melvin contributed 12 points and a team high 5 assists.  Although point guard Aaron Schmick had 20 points, his game high 7 turnovers hurt the Bruins.  Puget Sound forced 29 Bruin turnovers on the night, and won the battle on the glass 40-38.

Guards Jeremy Cross and Chase Curtiss each had 14 points and two assists for the Loggers.  Chris O'Donnell was a rebound short of a double double, grabbing 9 boards to go with 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting.

At Willamette 74, Whitman 54

Salem, Ore. -- The Willamette University men’s basketball team (13-5, 8-1 NWC) opened the second half with a 15-2 run, turning a seven-point lead into 20 as the Bearcats defeated the Whitman Missionairies (6-12, 2-7 NWC), 74-54, in a Northwest Conference game Friday night. The Bearcats remain in first place in the NWC.

Drew Miller, John Olinger, David Force and Miles Sandgathe all had 13 points to lead the balanced Bearcat attack. Force added seven assists and six rebounds and Sandgathe grabbed nine boards as the Bearcats battled the taller Missionairies to a 35-35 tie on the backboards.

John Olinger hit a trio of three-pointers in the first half as the Bearcats took a 27-20 lead into the break.. A tough Bearcat defense created 12 turnovers and five steals, but the Bearcats only hit 31`% of their shots. The Bearcats lead the league in defense, allowing 66.5 points per game.

The Bearcats opened the second half blazing hot, hitting 18 of 30 shots as they quickly went ahead by 20. Whitman, behind a pair of three-pointers by Greg Caldwell, pulled to within 13 at the 8:38 mark.

But a Whitman technical foul and two long threes by Miller pushed the lead back to 19 and the Bearcats cruised to their eighth straight conference win.

Casey Nelson led Whitman with 11. Caldwell had ten.

The Bearcats had 11 steals and forced 22 turnovers. Ol.inger had seven steals.

Whitworth 83, at Lewis & Clark 48

Portland, Ore. -- In their lowest offensive showing since only scoring 49 in last season's game at Whitworth, the Lewis Clark College Pioneers were shocked at Pamplin Friday night, losing to the Whitworth Pirates 83-48. The Pioneers only managed 19 points in the first half and a bit more respectable 29 in the second and seemingly had no answer for the Pirates offense.

One lone Pioneer scored double-digit points. Trevor Winnie, for the first time in his career, led the team with a career-high 10 points. He also tied career highs in assists (2) and three-pointers made (2).Tommy Magnuson had seven rebounds. For the first time in 20 games, Danny Winchester failed to hit a three-point shot. However, on the plus side,

Winchester had an assist, his 200th of his career.

The Pioneers shot just .267 from the field in the first half, improving to just over 32% for the game. They went twenty full minutes between three-point field goals made. Whitworth, on the other hand, shot 64.5% in the first half and 57.6% for the game.

The Pioneers also managed to play the entire first half without a personal foul. They only committed eight total for the game. Whitworth had only one personal foul in the first half and nine total on the game.

On the other side of the ball, Whitworth had five players scoring in double-digits. John Gebbers led all scorers with 17 points. Scott Bierlink scored 15 points and had a game-high 9 rebounds. Bryan Depew, the conference leading scorer, had 15 points as well. Bryan Williams and Jon Young each had 11. Williams had nine assists.

With the loss, the Pioneers slip below the .500 mark for the first time this season, 4-5 in conference play.  Whitworth improved to 6-3.

Linfield 68, at Pacific Lutheran 66

Parkland, Wash. -- An 8-0 run gave Linfield a 65-60 lead and the Wildcats held on for a 68-66 win over Pacific Lutheran in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game tonight at Olson Auditorium.

PLU (4-14, 1-8 NWC) led 60-57 with 3:17 left. Nick Fusare made a free throw and O.J. Gulley converted a three-point play to put Linfield in front 61-60. Two lay-ups by Blake Shelton gave the Wildcats a 65-60 advantage.

Jonathan Anderson scored on a lay-up with 38 seconds remaining, but Fusare answered with two free throws with 35 seconds left. Anderson brought the Lutes to within one on a three-point play with 9 seconds left.

Shelton made one-of-two foul shots with 6 seconds to play to put Linfield in front by two. Anderson's last-second fadeaway jumper was short to end the game.

Linfield (11-7, 6-3 NWC) held a 34-32 advantage at halftime.

Kurt Oliver led PLU with 20 points. Anderson scored 11 and Jason Pasquariello finished with 10 points. Sudon DeSuze grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to go with 7 points and 4 assists.

Shelton had 22 points, Fusare finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Gulley scored 13 points to lead Linfield.