Written by Mark Colachico, Contributing Writer

NEWBERG, Ore. -- Junior Ben Sutton (Jr., F, Seattle, WA/Ingraham HS) registered his third double-double of the season that included a career-high 13 rebounds, but it was not enough as Willamette University's men's basketball team dropped its first Northwest Conference game of 2020 to the Bruins of George Fox University, 87-56, Friday night, January 3, inside Miller Gymnasium.

For the second straight game, Sutton scored in double figures and pulled down double-figure rebounds that included game-highs 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field and 13 boards. Previously, Sutton registered double-doubles against La Verne (19 points, 10 rebounds) on November 23 and Louisiana College (16 points, 11 rebounds) on December 30.

With the loss, Willamette drops to 1-10 overall and 0-2 in Northwest Conference action. Meanwhile, George Fox improves to 5-5 overall and 1-0 in NWC contests.

Tonight's game would begin with George Fox scoring the opening seven points before Willamette got on the board thanks to a jumper by Kenny Wright, Jr. with 16:50 on the clock. Unfortunately that would be the only points that the visiting Bearcats would score over the game's first eight-plus minutes, as George Fox built its lead to as much as 15 points (17-2) on a Ryan Lacey three-pointer with 11:40 left in the first half. Over the next five-plus minutes, Willamette would use a 12-6 run to pull within single digits (23-14) on a jumper in the paint by Ryan Peterson (Jr., P, Edmonds, WA/Edmonds-Wodway HS) with 6:21 on the clock. That would be as close as the Bearcats would get thanks to a 23-10 run over the final six-plus minutes by George Fox resulting in a 46-24 lead at halftime.

The second half would begin with George Fox pushing its lead to 29 points (69-40) over the opening eight minutes before Willamette went on a run. The visiting Bearcats would use an 8-0 run over a span of four-plus minutes to get within 21 points (69-48) on a Sutton lay-up with 7:30 left in the game. Unfortunately that would be as close as Willamette would get, as George Fox pushed its lead to a game-high 33 points (87-54) thanks to an 18-6 Bruin run over a span of five-plus minutes. The game's final points would be scored via a Jack Boydell (Fr., F, Sonoma, CA/Sonoma Valley HS) lay-in as Willamette dropped its eighth game in row.

Offensively, Sutton was aided by Daniel Plumer (Fy., PG, North Las Vegas, NV/Democracy Preparatory Academy) with 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field. On the boards, Sutton was assisted by Cade Whicker (Fy., F, Fruit Heights, UT/Davis HS) who pulled down seven rebounds to go along with a team-high two assists each by Sutton and Wright, Jr.

George Fox was led offensively by Lacey with 18 points, while JD Ahlstrom and Emilio Mancol added 15 and 13 points, respectively. Zach Sly led the Bruins with a team-high eight rebounds, while Kalu Stricklin and Davon Walker handed out a game-high four assists each for George Fox.

As a team, Willamette combined to shoot 24-for-76 (31.6%) from the field to go along with a 2-for-22 (9.1%) performance from beyond the three-point line and a 6-for-12 (50.0%) showing at the free throw line. On the other hand, George Fox was a combined 30-for-71 (42.3%) from the field, 10-for-32 (31.3%) from long distance, and 17-for-21 (81.0%) at the charity stripe.

Next up for Willamette is a battle against the No. 14-ranked Pirates of Whitworth University on Friday, January 10, beginning at 8:00 P.M. (PST) in Spokane, Washington.