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SEATTLE -- Healthy players made for a happy coach Saturday afternoon.

Two days after suffering their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference setback, the ninth-ranked Seattle Pacific men bounced back with a convincing 87-68 victory over Northwest Nazarene at Brougham Pavilion.

“I'm happy with how our guys responded after a disappointing day on Thursday against Central Washington,” said first-year SPU basketball coach Ryan Looney.

On Thursday in Ellensburg, the Falcons roster was depleted by injury and illness in an 85-72 loss. Having one player ejected and another foul out only compounded their troubles.

Junior sharpshooter Jeff Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) did not play at all at CWU due to flu-like symptoms. He made his presence felt immediately on Saturday, netting 13 of his 16 points during the first half. Downs made 6 of 10 shots, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range.

Midway through the opening period, Downs scored three straight SPU baskets, the final two on treys. His 3-pointer at the buzzer provided a 51-33 halftime cushion.

SPU scored a season-high 51 points in the first half and came within two points of its season-high mark of 89 for the game.

Senior Rob Diederichs (Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood HS) played 17 minutes on Thursday despite an aching back. He had an uncommonly low total of just two assists, well below his team-leading per-game average of 5.5.

Against NNU, Diederichs distributed a career-high 12 assists in 27 minutes.

“You can't make excuses, but we weren't at full strength on Thursday and tonight we got back into a little comfort zone,” Diederichs explained. “Guys hit shots and we played well."

Diederichs surpassed his previous career high of 11 assists, which he set on Nov. 25, 2008 against NCAA Division I Southern Utah. This season, he had a high of 10 against Montana State Billings on Jan. 23.

“When the guys are open I just try to find them. It's fun to play with guys like Jeff. I find pleasure in finding them open and when they hit it, it's a great feeling running back down court.”

The recipient of many of Diederichs' passes on Saturday was junior Chris Banchero (Seattle, Wash./O'Dea HS) who led all scorers with 24 points.

They form an unconventional duo. The point guard Banchero leads the team in scoring with 18.5 points per game. The 6-foot-8 Diederichs leads the Falcons from his wing position with 110 assists, over 50 more than any of his teammates.

“It's not exactly normal, but we make it work,” Diederichs said. “Chris is awesome at what he does to contribute to the team and I just try to do my thing out there. When it comes together we're tough to stop.”

Banchero hit 7 of 10 shots from the floor and all 10 of his free throws.

Joining Banchero and Downs in double figures were Ryan Sweet with 17 points along with Jake Anderson and Brandon Larrieu with 10 apiece.

Sweet (Port Orchard, Wash./South Kitsap HS) made it a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds. That was his team-leading third double-double of the season.

Seattle Pacific (17-3) maintained its position atop the GNAC standings, owning a one-game lead in the loss column with an 8-1 record.

The Falcons are not entirely at full strength. They are still without 6-foot-9 post man Rafael Moreira who is sidelined indefinitely with a knee injury. He missed the last five games, leaving the post position to 6-foot-7 Sweet and 6-foot-6 Anderson.

Brian Barkdoll, the Crusaders' 6-foot-10 center, posed a serious matchup problem for the much shorter Falcons.

“We knew going into the game that one of NNU's big strengths is their post play and all the size that they have,” Looney said. “We just came up with a game plan defensively to double from different areas. It was pretty effective for us.”

That defensive tactic limited Barkdoll to five points, over six below his average. By the time Barkdoll scored his first point, on a free throw with 8:28 left in the game, SPU had a comfortable 73-53 advantage.

Anthony Golden led the Crusaders (12-8, 4-5 GNAC) with 16 points. He was the only NNU player in double figures.

Kendall Gielow scored the Crusaders' first six points during the opening 2:13, but managed just two more points the rest of the way while battling foul trouble.

The Falcons have won nine of their last 10 games against NNU. That includes an 82-71 win at Nampa in this season's GNAC opener on Jan. 7. SPU has beaten the Crusaders 12 straight times in Brougham Pavilion.

The Falcons, the fourth-best shooting team in all of NCAA Division II, hit 56.9 percent for the game (29 of 51). NNU shot 41.7 percent (25 of 60).

The Crusaders had early leads of 2-0 and 4-3 before SPU went on a 15-2 run. Sweet scored five points to fuel the surge that put the Falcons ahead for good at 18-6 with 16:20 left in the first half.

The SPU lead grew to as many as 23 points in the second half.

The Falcons have just one game next week, playing host to Western Oregon on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.

SPU edged the Wolves 79-77 on Jan. 14 in Monmouth, Ore., during this season's first meeting. The game ended on a dramatic length-of-the-court inbounds pass from Jake Anderson to Chris Banchero for the winning layup as time expired. (view the game-winning play here)

“Western Oregon gave us some problems the first time that we played them. But we've gotten better against zone defense, which is what they did for 40 minutes the last time we played,” Looney said. “With a few days practice going into it, hopefully we can keep our guys fresh and maybe be a little bit more prepared to play against their style than we were the first time around.”