SEATTLE (Feb. 7) - In the most lopsided Conference game ever, the Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team jumped out to an early 16-3 lead, and held visiting Montana State Billings to a season low 34 points, winning by 56, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball game Thursday night, 90-34.
The Falcons (7-3 GNAC, 15-4 overall) broke out to lead the Yellowjackets (1-9, 1-20) by as many as 27 in the first half, with 18 points coming from center Rob Will. The win eclipsed the previous GNAC record for most lopsided game, dating back Jan. 19, 2002, in which Western Washington University defeated University of Alaska Fairbanks by 42 points.
SPU dug for nine steals in the first half, four of which came from guard Marques Echols, one of which came with 2:30 remaining, which was fed to Brandon Larrieu and then to Casey Reed for a lay-up. Fouled in the process, Reed drained the extra point, pushing the Falcons' lead to 41-15.
Second half action saw the SPU bench record 27 of the Falcons' 44 total points, with MSUB managing only 15 for the whole squad. Adam Wardell led all players in the half with 11 points, hitting 3-4 three pointers.
Overall, SPU was led by Will's 24 points, to which he added seven boards, two blocks and three steals. Larrieu chimed in for 16 points and three assists, with Wardell rounding out the double-digit scorers at previously mentioned 11.
Chris Banchero came off the bench to lead all players with nine assists, with Echols filling up the stat sheet nicely; six assists, five points, four steals and three rebounds. Filip Popovic led all players with 11 rebounds over 18 minutes of action.
For MSUB, Kirk Blaine had 10 points and seven boards, with Tyler Hentzen pairing seven points with ten rebounds.
SPU, who split a pair of games in Alaska last week, dominated all categories against MSUB, whose roster consists mainly of freshman and sophomores. The Falcons had 29 assists to MSUB's seven, 17 steals to their five, and finished with a 45-33 advantage in rebounds. As a whole, the Falcons shot a blistering 55.4 percent from the field, compared to the Yellowjackets, who managed 22.6 percent, making just five shots in the second half.
The Falcons face cross-town rival Seattle University Saturday night at Brougham Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
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