January 21, 2009
SEATTLE -- Wednesday's game was not what you expect when the league's top-two shooting squads square off.
The Seattle Pacific men's basketball team overcame an uncharacteristic poor shooting first half, and game-long 3-point woes, to defeat Northwest Nazarene 63-59 at Brougham Pavilion.
SPU remained tied for first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with Central Washington, which also improved to 4-1 by virtue of a win over Montana State Billings. The Falcons overall record moved to 11-5 and they maintained their perfect Brougham Pavilion record, winning for the sixth straight time on their homecourt this season.
Rafael Moreira recorded his fourth double-double of the season, collecting 14 points and 10 rebounds. He was the most reliable Falcon, hitting 6-of-9 shots from the field.
“Rafael played well tonight,” SPU coach Jeff Hironaka said. “He was active and did a nice job tonight. If we can get him to do that every game that would be great.”
Moreira's double-double was his first since a recent streak of three straight, the last of which came Jan. 8 at home in the GNAC opener against Saint Martin's. The 6-foot-9 junior center is a native of Brasilia, Brazil who transferred from Eastern Utah Junior College prior to this season.
Neither team shot well in the first half, with the Falcons hitting just 38.7 percent (12-of-31) of their attempts and making only one 3-pointer in nine tries. NNU was slightly better, shooting 39.3 percent (11-of-28) and 3-of-9 beyond the arc.
Long shots weren't falling, so the resourceful Falcons started looking inside for their points.
The first nine SPU second-half baskets came on layups. The Falcons shot 60 percent (15-of-25) after halftime, improving their game percentage to 48.2 (27-of-56).
SPU made just two 3-point shots in 15 attempts, including 1-of-9 in the first half.
“We shot horrible, so if you are shooting horrible to have to look inside,” Hironaka said of his halftime offensive adjustment. “We tried to move a little bit more. When the ball got to the high post we looked to cut on the backside rather than stand around on the perimeter, which is all we did in the first half.”
SPU entered the game as the conference leader, shooting a collective 52.3 percent from the field. The Falcons outscored NNU 44-22 in the paint on Wednesday.
Northwest Nazarene dropped to 10-5 overall with a 2-3 GNAC record.
The Crusaders, the conference's second-best shooting team at 50.5 percent coming in, hit just 37.1 percent for the night (23-of-62). NNU shot 4-of-16 from 3-point range.
“They are one of the best 3-point shooting teams and they shot horrible,” Hironaka described. “Neither team was in rhythm, but fortunately in the second half we shot the ball a little better than they did.”
Early in the second half, the game was tied 35-35 before SPU staged a 9-2 run.
Brandon Larrieu (Puyallup, Wash./Franklin Pierce) hit a trey with 10:43 left in the game that stopped a string of eight straight 3-point misses for SPU. The 3-pointer gave the Falcons their largest lead, at 51-42.
But Northwest Nazarene continually came back to keep it close, getting within 61-59 on a pair of free throws by Kendall Gielow with 34.4 seconds left.
Larrieu hit the front end of a one-and-one to make it 62-59 with 20.3 seconds remaining. NNU came down off the missed second free throw, and Louie Beech tried a 3-pointer from deep in the right corner that bounced off the rim toward the opposite corner.
A Crusader flung the ball back in, but it went right to SPU's Casey Reed (Canby, Ore.), who was fouled with 0.9 seconds remaining. Reed hit the first of his ensuing free throws to make it 63-59, effectively sealing the victory.
Sophomore Chris Banchero (Seattle, Wash./O'Dea HS) pumped in a game-high 18 points for the Falcons, who also got 10 from Rob Diederichs (Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood HS).
Beech led the Crusaders with 12 points, and Scott Helpenstell added 11. Gielow, NNU's leading scorer at 14.4 points per game, was limited to just eight.
The Falcons now lead the all-time series against Northwest Nazarene, 42-22, and have won six of the last seven meetings.
The largest first-half lead by either team was a five-point edge by SPU. The Crusaders overcame that deficit with a 10-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Tyler Roberts. That put NNU ahead 26-23 with 2:02 left in the first half.
Banchero hit a fall-away jumper at the buzzer to send the teams into halftime with the Crusaders owning a 28-27 edge.
The SPU men now take a week off from competition before visiting Western Oregon next Thursday, Jan. 29.
“We need a rest because we looked tired,” Hironaka remarked. “After a short practice Thursday, I'm going to give them two days off. We need to get re-energized and get ready for next week.”
The Falcons next home game is Jan. 31 at 3:30 p.m. against Central Washington in the annual Homecoming doubleheader. The SPU women open the Jan. 31 twin bill at 1:30 p.m. against Montana State Billings.
NCAA Men's Basketball
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wash.
Seattle Pacific 63, Northwest Nazarene 59
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (10-5, 2-3 GNAC)
Gielow 3-10 2-2 8, Barkdoll 1-8 0-0 2, Shildmyer 2-9 0-0 5, Roberts 3-4 0-0 8, Beech 4-8 3-4 12, Ryman 3-7 1-3 7, Helpenstell 4-9 3-3 11, Mgebroff 0-0 0-0 0, Golden 3-7 0-0 6. Totals 23-62 9-12 59.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (11-5, 4-1 GNAC)
Reed 2-8 2-5 6, Diederichs 5-7 0-0 10, Moreira 6-9 2-2 14, Bancher08-13 2-2 18, Larrieu 3-8 1-2 8, Campanaro 0-1 0-0 0, Wardell 1-2 0-0 2, Downs 2-7 0-0 5, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 7-11 63.
Northwest Nazarene.......28 31 -- 59
Seattle Pacific................27 36 -- 63
3-point goals -- NNU 4-16 (Shildmyer 1-4, Roberts 2-3, Beech 1-3, Ryman 0-4, Golden 0-2), SPU 2-15 (Diederichs 0-2, Banchero 0-3, Larrieu 1-4, Campanaro 0-1, Downs 1-5). Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- NNU 38 (Roberts 8, Gielow 7), SPU 36 (Moreira 10, Reed 9. Assists -- NNU 8 (Golden 3), SPU 16 (Bancher 5, Reed 3, Diederichs 3). Technical fouls -- None. Total fouls -- NNU 13, SPU 14. A -- 717.
