PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College men's basketball earned a thrilling 78-75 overtime win over George Fox University to wrap up the first half of conference play with a 5-3 mark. 

THE BASICS
 
Lewis & Clark 78, George Fox 75 (OT) 
(Lewis & Clark 9-8, Northwest Conference 5-3) 
(George Fox 7-10, Northwest Conference 3-5) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Pioneers trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and trailed for nearly 30 minutes in the game. They used a late surge to force overtime and then built a five-point lead early in overtime, only to hold on in the final seconds. 
 
Senior Isaac Ticeson put together one of the best games of his Lewis & Clark career. He scored a career-high and team-high 22 points and chipped in eight rebounds. Ticeson finished 10-20 from the field and scored 14 points in the second half to lead the comeback. 
 
Junior Justin White provided a huge spark off the bench. After not playing in the first half, White compiled a line of 11 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes and six seconds of action (including all five minutes in overtime). He went 4-7 from the field and was a clutch 3-4 from the free throw line. 
 
Senior Griffin Datcher IV matched White with 11 points and pulled down four rebounds, to go along with his team-high five assists. Junior Taien Jackson was the final Pioneer in double-figures with 10 points on 4-8 shooting. Senior Nate Berg led Lewis & Clark with a team-high 13 rebounds (three offensive) and added seven points. 
 
George Fox's Momo Stokes led all players with 28 points. The NWC's leading scorer finished 9-19 from the field and hit seven of his 12 free throws attempts. 
 
The visitors built a 20-9 lead with 8:45 to go in the first half. After Lewis & Clark had evened the game at 9-9, Vandon Heard and Aiden Price combined for an 11-0 run to give the Bruins their largest lead of the game. 
 
Lewis & Clark would slowly cut into the deficit and used an 8-2 run to close the half to make it 30-26 George Fox at halftime. Datcher IV and Jackson each hit baskets in the final two minutes to get Lewis & Clark as close as they had been since the 11:14 mark of the half. 
 
The Pioneers would carry the momentum into the second half as they scored the first six points of the stanza to take their first lead of the game at 32-30. Ticeson scored all six points and Lewis & Clark's defense held George Fox without a basket for the first 4:22 of the half. 
 
The rest of the half would be back-and-forth with the two teams combining for 10 lead changes and seven ties. George Fox used an 8-0 run to push their lead to six (49-43), only for Lewis & Clark to immediately counter with a 5-0 run. The Bruins grabbed a 57-52 edge with 7:39 left, but Lewis & Clark charged back with a 6-0 flurry. 
 
Neither team would lead by more than three over the final five minutes. Stokes gave his team the lead with 1:28 to play but White answered with two free throws to tie the game at 65-65. Both teams would have chances to win the game in regulation but Ticeson and Jake Bishop were off the mark. 
 
Lewis & Clark started off overtime as the aggressor. They scored seven of the first nine points to grab a game-high five point lead (72-67). White scored five consecutive points to turn a 67-67 tie into a five-point lead with 1:24 to play. 
 
The Pioneers looked like they would cruise to victory as Berg hit two free throws with seconds left to make it 76-72. Things would get a little crazy from there. Stokes drew a shooting foul on a 3-point shot and hit the first two, before purposefully missing the third free throw. Heard pulled down the free throw and was fouled with a chance to tie the game. He made the first but missed the second and Datcher IV beat everyone to the rebound with less than three seconds left. Datcher IV hit both shots to make it 78-75 and Stokes' desperation half-court heave bounced off the backboard and the rim, before falling off. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Ticeson easily eclipsed his collegiate career-high with 22 points. He previously scored 17 points as a junior against UC Santa Cruz (11/25/23). His previous season-high had been 10 points on two occasions. 
• White, who had not played in two of the previous three games, came up huge on Saturday. His 11 points and seven rebounds (tied) were both season-highs and he improved to 9-11 from the free throw line this season. 
• Lewis & Clark snapped a three-game losing streak against the Bruins with the win. Last year, George Fox swept Lewis & Clark by a combined nine points. 
• With the win, Lewis & Clark sits third in the NWC at the midway point at 5-3.  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will be right back at it on Tuesday night, when they host Willamette University at 6 p.m. The Pioneers opened NWC play with a 76-55 in Salem.