Warriors get a lot "Morris" in tough loss to Bruins

November 17, 2006

BOX SCORE - GEORGE FOX 74, CORBAN 61

Senior Nate Morris scored a career-high 13 points on 3-for-6 shooting from the field tonight, but it was enough as Corban dropped a tough game to the Bruins of George Fox. (Photo courtesy of William Scott Photography)

NEWBERG, Ore. - Senior Nate Morris (Dufur, Ore.) scored a career and team-high 13 points off the bench, but it was not enough as Corban's men's basketball team dropped the opening game of the weekend to NCAA Division III member George Fox, 74-61, on Friday.

The host Bruins of George Fox scored the game's third bucket via a jumper by Chris Parker and never looked back, as Corban was on the wrong end of 15-0 run over a six minute span that ballooned GFU's lead from five to twenty (27-7).

The Warriors got as close as 14 points on two separate occasions (27-13 & 38-24) in the opening half.  Sophomore forward Garrett Kauffman (Sweet Home, Ore.) nailed back-to-back 3-pointers following the Bruins' run to make the score 27-13 with 7:50 remaining in the opening half. Junior guard/forward Hannes Gehring (Lake Oswego, Ore.) connected on a shot from long distance for the final bucket of the opening half to cut the Bruins' lead to 38-24 with 1:25 left.

In the opening minutes of the second half, Corban got as close as 11 points (42-31) when sophomore guard/forward Jason Braun (Dallas, Ore.) hit back-to-back free throws. Unfortunately, the Warriors could not get George Fox's lead within single digits but did cut the host team's advantage to 10 points (64-54) when sophomore forward Wade Douglas (Ontario, Ore.) made a pair of free throws with 6:17 remaining in the game.  That was the closest that Corban would get, as George Fox nailed 8-out-of-10 free throws down the stretch to secure a season-opening victory.

Morris notched his career-high in points on 3-for-6 shooting for the field, including 2-for-3 from beyond the 3-point line and 5-out-of-6 free throws.  Kauffman added 11 points, while Braun rounded out the Warriors' double-digit scorers with 10.  Gehring pulled down a team-high 7 rebounds, while junior J.D. Hill (Lebanon, Ore.) and sophomore Kyle Masten (Salem, Ore.) grabbed 6 and 5 boards respectively to aid the Warriors to a 1-rebound advantage, 37-36, over the Bruins.

As a team, the Warriors shot 16-for-54 (29.6%) from the field, including 20-for-27 (74.1%) from the charity stripe.  Meanwhile, George Fox connected on 26-out-of-51 (51.0%) of its shots, including 19-out-of-26 (73.1%) of its free throws.

George Fox was led by Parker's game-high 27 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field and 9-for-11 shooting from the free throw line. Phil Heu-Weller and Brent Satern added 14 points each, while Brady Strutz grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds.

Corban moves its record to 0-4 on the young season, while George Fox tip off its 2006-07 campaign at 1-0. The Warriors are back in action on Saturday, November 18th, when they host NCAA Division III member Whitman College beginning at 7:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.