Junior Greg Peters scored a double-double against George Fox.
Northwest Comes Back to Drop George Fox
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Northwest University came back from an early 13-2 deficit to register a 73-61 victory over George Fox University tonight in non-conference play.
Northwest U. found themselves down 13-2 at the 17:24 mark on a quick start by the Bruins from Newberg, Oregon including a two free throws before the start of the game. A technical foul was called on the Eagles for dunking in warm-ups. Stephen Wisely opened the scoring for George Fox with his two free throws and followed them with a 3-pointer after a jumper by NU’s Greg Peters. Two 3-pointers by Rich Smith and a layup by Evan Atwater gave GFU the 11 point lead. But Northwest U. would go on a 12-0 run to take the lead 14-13 capped off by two free throws by Rich Skillman. A layup by GFU’s Alex Stockner would give the Bruins a brief 15-14 and it would be the final lead George Fox would see the remainder of the night as NU would rattle off 9 straight points to lead 23-15 at the 6:27 mark. A Wisely 3-pointer would bring GFU to within 5 points, 25-20, but a jumper by NU’s Greg George and a layup by Stedman Richardson off a Tyson Christie pass would put NU up by 9, 29-20 with 3:53 left until intermission. Tyler Mendezona’s 3-pointer at the 1:53 mark would give the Eagles a 35-22 lead and following another Stephen Wisely 3-pointer, Blake Solomon would drop a trey of his own to put Northwest up 38-25 at the half.
The second half would see Northwest increase its lead and pull away from the Bruins. Nate Rheaume’s offensive rebound and put back would give NU a 16 point, 50-34, lead with 14:36 left in the half. A 7-3 run by NU would give them a commanding 20 point lead (57-37) at the 10:20 mark. George Fox would get the NU lead down to 12 points several times in the half but couldn’t make up the ground. A 7-0 run by the Bruins at the end of the game closed the gap to 12 once again as the game would end.
Greg Peters (Belmont, St. Vincent) registered a double-double and led Northwest (6-4, 2-0 CCC) with his 16 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Rich Skillman (Everson, Wash.) contributed 15 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and had 2 steals on the night. Senior Blake Solomon dropped in 12 points and had 5 rebounds for the Eagles who held a 51-37 rebounding margin over GFU including 15 offensive boards. NU shot 44% from 2-point FG range and 40% from the 3-point line.
George Fox (3-4) was led by center Rich Smith’s game high 18 points and 8 rebounds while Stephen Wisely score 17 points for the Bruins. NU’s defense held GFU to 30% shooting on the night and 28% from beyond the 3-point arc.
Northwest U. will travel to Parkland, Wash. on Saturday their third straight opponent from the Northwest Conference, Pacific Lutheran University in a 7:00 pm game.