SEATTLE (Jan. 26) - JoJay Jackson scored 21 points and dished out 8 assists to lead the Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team past Saint Martin's 89-79 in front of a Homecoming crowd Saturday afternoon at Brougham Pavilion.

Jackson finished 7 for 11 from the field and 6 for 8 from the line while also filling out the box score with five rebounds and three steals.  Leading scorer Marques Echols returned from a hip-injury to score 12 points, hitting 2 of 7 from behind the arch.

The Saints (9-8, 4-4) led early and were up 30-26 when Jake Linton hit a deep three-pointer with 5:16 to play in the half.

SPU (13-3, 5-2) grabbed the lead behind a 13-0 run spanning 2:42 seconds, seven points scored by Echols who nailed a  three-pointer and then hit back to back lay-ups of assists from Jackson, and took a 39-34 halftime lead.

Saint Martin's battle back after the break, as Linton's 15 foot jumper cut the SPU lead to 51-49.  But the Falcons Jeff Downs hit back to back three-pointers and Casey Reed cut through the Saint's defense for an easy bucket to put the Falcons up 60-53.

With the Saint's force to foul, SPU hit 13 of 16 free-throws over the final three minutes, six by Jackson alone, securing the Homecoming victory.

For the game, SPU outscored Saint Martin's by 21 from three-point land, hitting 10 shots from long range to just 3 for the Saints.

For the Falcons, Rob Diederichs hit three three-pointers on the way to 13 points.  Rob Will chipped in 10 in just 16 minutes after sitting for most of the first half with foul trouble.  Reed added 13 to lead all bench scorers. 

Linton led all scorers with 30 points, going a perfect 11-11 from the charity stripe.  He also handed out eight assists.  The Saints' Brendan Campbell and Bill Richardson added 16 and 14 points respectively while also grabbing six rebounds.

SPU heads to Alaska this week for a showdown with GNAC leader Alaska Anchorage  on Thursday (1/31) before taking on Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday (2/2).

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