NU's Ahmaad Cook led all scorers with 25 points.
Northwest Defeats George Fox for Seventh Straight
NEWBERG, Ore. - Northwest U.'s seniors Ahmaad Cook and Jordan Call combined for 49 points and Jason Waltman grabbed 18 rebounds as the Eagles defeated George Fox University tonight, 88-70, to win their seventh straight game.
Jordan Call's jumper with 15:32 to go in the first half would give the Eagles a 14-2 lead. Layups by Tyler Mendezona and Michael Greene would put NU up 21-8 at the 12:46 mark, but then GFU would go on a 13-1 run to close to 22-21 as A.J. Grant’s 3-pointer would close the gap for the Bruins. GFU's Jon Adrian would drain a 3 to put George Fox up, 24-23, but Ahmaad Cook would answer for NU with his trey at the 5:58 mark to regain the lead for the Eagles, 25-24. GFU would regain the lead and would hold on to a slim margin until the 2:57 mark when Jordan Call would hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 32-all and Michael Greene would put NU back into the lead with his layup with 1:57 to go in the half. Cam Rier would hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 37-35, Northwest at the half.
The Bruins would take a brief 40-39 lead two minutes into the second half, but it would be the final lead of the game for the Bruins. Michael Greene's layup with 14 minutes to go in the game would give NU a 9 points lead, 53-44. Ahmaad Cook's 3-pointer at the 11:27 mark would increase NU's lead to 58-47 and 2 minutes later, Cook would hit a jumper to make it 63-50. Northwest would maintain a comfortable lead the rest of the game and Cook would hit another trey with 2:29 remaining to give the Eagles a 17 point lead, 81-64. Jason Waltman would put the cap on the victory with a final free throw to improve NU's record to a perfect 7-0 in preseason play.
Northwest's (7-0) Ahmaad Cook (Los Angeles, Calif.) led all scorers with a game high 25 points, shooting 50% on the night (9-18). Jordan Call (Kirkland, Wash.) added 24 points going 90% from the free throw line (9-10). Jason Waltman (Monroe, Wash.) had a game high 18 rebounds, Rich Skillman (Everson, Wash.) added 13 points and Michael Greene (Bellingham, Wash.) contributed 10 points and 9 rebounds. The Eagles dominated the rebounding with a 49-24 margin while shooting 48% for the night, 37% from 3-point range.
"I thought we rebounded well tonight, particularly Jason Waltman who had 18 boards," said John Van Dyke, Eagle head coach. "George Fox is a hard place to play and we needed a great team effort to come away with the win. In the second half, it was that attitude which helped us secure the win."
Mike Taylor and Jon Adrian led George Fox (0-2) their 15 points apiece while A.J. Grant added 11 points for the Bruins. GFU shot 44% (25-57) from 2-point range, but were limited to 27% (8-30) from beyond the 3-pont arc.
Northwest U. will host Linfield College on Nov. 25 at 7:00 pm in the NU Pavilion before heading to Bellingham on Nov. 26 for an exhibition game with Western Washington.