• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

CHICO, Calif. – Senior Rafael Moreira scored eight of his 23 points during a decisive first-half surge Saturday that started the 24th-ranked Seattle Pacific men's basketball team on its way to a 65-44 win over host Chico State in the championship game of the Mac Martin Invitational at Acker Gym.

The Falcons (4-0) remained undefeated under first-year coach Ryan Looney. They defeated Sonoma State 78-58 in Friday's first-round game.

Moreira (Brasilia, Brazil) made 11 of 14 shots from the field. The 6-foot-9 post registered his second double-double of the season, grabbing 13 rebounds to lead SPU's 43-27 advantage on the boards.

Chris Banchero (Seattle, Wash./O'Dea HS) and Brandon Larrieu (Puyallup, Wash./Franklin Pierce HS) each scored 13 points for SPU. Larrieu was coming off a career-high 32-point performance on Friday.

Larrieu received the Most Valuable Player award for the Mac Martin Invitational and was joined on the all-tournament team by Banchero and Moreira.

Terence Pellum was the only double-figure scorer for the Wildcats (1-1), finishing with 10 points.

The Falcons never trailed, and broke the game's only tie on a Larrieu 3-pointer that put them ahead 5-2 just over two minutes into the game.

The margin was 10-9 when SPU used a 17-6 run to extend its advantage to 27-15. Moreira made four baskets during the surge, including a layup that capped the run with 6:38 left in the first half. He tallied 10 first-half points, a figure matched by Banchero.

Chico State drew within 31-22 at halftime on a layup at the buzzer by Damario Sims.

The closest the Wildcats got in the second half was seven points. They tallied seven straight points to close the gap to 36-29 with 15:54 left to play. The Falcons turned back that rally with a 9-3 run featuring five points from Larrieu.

SPU scored 10 unanswered points later in the half to forge its largest lead at 62-40 with 4:35 remaining.

The Falcons shot 49 percent for the game (24 of 49) while limiting Chico to 31 percent (18 of 58).

The 21-point final margin marked SPU's biggest win this season. The Falcons won by 20 on Friday and started the campaign with a pair of 18-point wins, over Dominican of California (81-63) and Cal State Monterey Bay (88-70).

The Seattle Pacific men return home to host their own four-team tournament next weekend. The Falcons play Carroll College on Friday, Dec. 4 before meeting top-ranked BYU Hawaii on Saturday, Dec. 5. Both games tip off at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion where Central Washington meets those same opponents in reverse order at 5 p.m.


NCAA Men's Basketball
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Acker Gym/Chico, Calif.

(#24) Seattle Pacific 65, Chico State 44

SEATTLE PACIFIC (4-0)
Moreira, Rafael 11-14 1-3 23; Banchero, Chris 4-12 2-2 13; Larrieu, Brandon 4-6 4-5 13; Wardell, Adam 1-2 3-4 6; Downs, Jeff 1-5 2-2 4; Sweet, Ryan 2-4 0-0 4; Diederichs, Rob 1-2 0-0 2; Morse, Scott 0-1 0-0 0; Vranes, Colby 0-0 0-0 0; Campanaro, Chauncey 0-0 0-0 0; Anderson, Jake 0-3 0-0 0; Hope, Grant 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-49 12-16 65.

CHICO STATE (1-1)
Pellum, Terence 5-9 0-0 10; Baird, Jon 3-12 0-0 8; Hawkins, Roderick 2-4 0-2 5; Seals, Brian 2-6 1-2 5; Sims, Damario 2-8 1-2 5; Nye, Darren 1-3 1-2 4; Flores, Jay 1-3 0-0 3; Conrad, Jason 1-2 0-0 2; Graves, Zach 1-8 0-0 2; Lonnegren, Nick 0-1 0-0 0; Lovisolo, Jake 0-0 0-0 0; Moyer, Spencer 0-0 0-0 0; Lee, Powell 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-58 3-8 44.

Seattle Pacific...............   31   34  -   65
Chico State...................   22   22  -   44

3-point goals--Seattle Pacific 5-16 (Banchero, Chris 3-7; Larrieu, Brandon 1-3; Wardell, Adam 1-1; Diederichs, Rob 0-1; Sweet, Ryan 0-1; Downs, Jeff 0-3), Chico State 5-22 (Baird, Jon 2-7; Hawkins, Roderick 1-3; Flores, Jay 1-3; Nye, Darren 1-1; Graves, Zach 0-2; Lee, Powell 0-2; Sims, Damario 0-4). Fouled out--Seattle Pacific-None, Chico State-None. Rebounds--Seattle Pacific 43 (Moreira, Rafael 13), Chico State 27 (Seals, Brian 8). Assists--Seattle Pacific 15 (Diederichs, Rob 7), Chico State 12 (Sims, Damario 3; Flores, Jay 3; Graves, Zach 3). Total fouls--Seattle Pacific Univ 12, Chico State 14. Technical fouls—Seattle Pacific-None, Chico State-None. Att.-480.


50th ANNUAL MAC MARTIN INVITATIONAL RECAP

Friday
Seattle Pacific 78, Sonoma State 58
Chico State 74, Lewis & Clark 62

Saturday
Lewis & Clark 71, Sonoma State 64
Seattle Pacific 65, Chico State 44

All-Tournament Team
MVP: Brandon Larrieu, Seattle Pacific
Chris Banchero, Seattle Pacific
Rafael Moreira, Seattle Pacific
Roderick Hawkins, Chico State
Kelly Edwards, Lewis & Clark College
Patrick Scott, Sonoma State


Next game --
Carroll College at Seattle Pacific
Friday, Dec. 4, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.