History-Making Williams Leads Pirates Past Bruins

The Bruins Chris Parker scored a game-high 22 points.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

SPOKANE, Wash. - Point guard Bryan Williams scored 20 points, becoming the first player in Whitworth College history to surpass both 1,000 points and 500 assists for a career, as he sparked the NCAA Division III 13th-ranked Pirates to a 90-64 win over the George Fox University Bruins in Northwest Conference men’s basketball Saturday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Whitworth scored the first five points of the game and jumped to an early 13-2 lead, but the Bruins battled back to within a point twice, the second time after six straight points by Chris Parker that pulled George Fox within 34-33 with 1:20 to play.

Williams followed a free throw with a three-pointer just before the buzzer, giving the Bucs a 38-33 halftime advantage.

Parker scored on a layup to open the second half, bringing the Bruins within three at 38-35, but the Pirates then exploded on a 13-0 run that gave them a 51-35 advantage with 14:17 left.

This time, they made the lead stick, as the Bruins got no closer than 14 points the rest of the way. The Pirates' largest lead was 90-63 after a breakaway dunk by Nate Montgomery with six seconds left.

Parker scored a game-high 22 points, including 16 in the first half to help the Bruins stay close through intermission, and had a game-high nine rebounds.

Evan Atwater came off the bench to score 13 points.

Brady Strutz passed out seven assists.

For the second straight night, the Bruins struggled with a shooting percentage under 40%, making 19-54 from the field for a ..352 mark.

With his team-high 20 points, Williams also became the 17th player in Whitworth history to top 1,000 points.

Ryan Symes added 18 points and James Jones scored 17.

Colin Willemsen had a team-high six rebounds, while Jones and Willemsen had five assists each.

Whitworth, the national leader in team field goal percentage, made .566 (30-53) from the field, including ..526 (10-19) from three-point range.

George Fox (11-10, NWC 6-6) plays its final road game of the season Friday at Willamette University in Salem.

Whitworth (19-2, NWC 10-2), which holds a one-game lead in the league standings over both the University of Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark College, visits Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., Friday.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports