Bruins Battle Back from Big Deficit to Baffle Boxers

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NEWBERG - Down by 13 points midway through the second half and by 10 with 7:30 to play, the George Fox University Bruins staged a furious comeback to defeat the visiting Pacific University Boxers 68-59 in a Northwest Conference men’s basketball game Saturday night at the Wheeler Sports Center’s Miller Gym.

The Bruins opened the game with a basket by Chris Parker and a three-pointer and a pair of free throws by Phil Heu-Weller for a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes before Ross Bartlett’s two free throws at the 17:54 mark got Pacific on the scoreboard.

That started the Boxers off on a 14-2 run that put them ahead 14-9 with 11:09 left in the half.

After falling behind by as many as eight, the Bruins rallied within a point at 20-19 on a pair of Brady Strutz free throws with 4:04 left, but the Boxers outscored the Bruins 13-5 over the last four minutes to lead by nine, 33-24, at the half.

The Bruins struggled to a .292 shooting percentage (7-24) in the period.

The game was delayed for almost 15 minutes with 7:47 left in the first half when a visiting Pacific cheerleader fell during a timeout stunt and had to be carried from the court on a stretcher.

She was taken in an ambulance to Providence Newberg Hospital for observation.

The Boxers extended their lead in the second half to 13 on back-to-back threes by Jesse Wong that made it 49-36 with 12:15 to play.

The lead was still 10 at 54-44 when the Bruins went on an offensive rampage, outscoring the Boxers 24-5 over the last 7:30.

An 11-0 run, capped by Brent Satern’s three, gave George Fox a 55-54 lead with 5:08 left.

Donnie Harrison-Davis’ free throw tied it 55-55 with 3:44 to go, but Mark Metzler’s three from the left wing put the Bruins up 58-55 with 3:22 left and ignited a final 13-4 Bruin outburst.

The Bruins hit 8-10 free throws in that stretch, six of them by Satern, and twice led by as many as 11.

Heu-Weller, playing his first major minutes since suffering an ankle injury a month ago at Pacific, led all scorers with 20 points, while Satern and Parker added 12 each and Joe Ahn came off the bench for a career-high 11.

Parker had six rebounds, and Satern and Heu-Weller had three assists apiece.

Strutz was the defensive star, swapping away five Pacific shots.

George Fox shooting improved significantly to .480 (12-25) in the second half, and they were hot at the line, sinking 23-28 in the game for a .821 mark.

Wong topped the Boxers with 17 points, scorching the nets on 6-7 shooting and a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc.

Kyle Motta and Harrison-Davis chipped in with 11, while Motta’s eight rebounds led the Boxers to a 37-33 advantage on the glass.

The Boxers shot .396 (21-53) from the field for the game but managed only a .600 mark (12-20) from the line.

George Fox (12-11, NWC 7-7), now alone in fourth place in the conference, hosts Pacific Lutheran University Friday at 8:00 PM, following the NWC women’s game at 6:00 PM.

Pacific (10-12, NWC 6-8) goes to Northwest Christian College Tuesday for a non-conference game at 7:30 PM.

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