NEWBERG, Ore. - Pacific Lutheran hung with host George Fox for the better part of the first half, but the Bruins used a strong final 20 minutes to defeat the Lutes, 92-67, in a Northwest Conference men's basketball game played Saturday night at Wheeler Sports Center.

The Lutes, 7-8 overall and 5-3 in the the conference, opened the game with seven unanswered points in the first minute. The Bruins came back to take a 10-9 lead, and they grabbed the advantage for good at 17-16 on Stephen Wiseley's jumper with 11:15 left in the first half.

PLU stayed with the hosts for most of the remainder of the half, pulling to within two points, 33-31, on a Tony Polis free throw with 5:10 showing on the clock. George Fox pulled away again and took a 45-36 lead into the intermission.

The second half was all Bruins as the Lutes cooled considerably from the field. George Fox built its biggest lead at 88-57 on Jon Adrian's jumper with 2:29 left in the game.

Kyle MacTaggart led the Lutes with 10 points, all coming in the first half, and he also grabbed six rebounds. James Conti scored nine points and led the Lutes with three assists, and Curtis Trondsen tallied nine points off of the bench.

The Lutes ended up shooting just 38 percent (21-of-55) compared to 51 percent (31-of-61) for the Bruins. George Fox shot a scorching 60 percent (12-of-20) from beyond the three-point line and 82 percent (18-of-22) at the foul stripe. Additionally, the Bruins had a big advantage on the backboards, 44-26, led by Rich Smith with 15. Evan Atwater led George Fox with 17 points, followed by Wiseley with 13.

With the victory, the Bruins improve to 8-9 overall and are now tied with PLU at 5-3 and third place in the conference.

Pacific Lutheran returns to action at 8 p.m. Friday when it hosts Northwest Conference opponent Linfield in Olson Auditorium.

- PLU -