February 28, 2009
LACEY, Wash. – Jake Linton, Bill Richardson and Blake Poole combined for 71 points Saturday as Saint Martin's led the entire game and held off Seattle Pacific's second-half rally for an 85-72 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball win at Marcus Pavilion.
The Falcons (18-8) dropped to 11-4 in GNAC play and out of the first-place position they occupied before the game. They are one-half game behind conference leaders Western Washington and Central Washington, which are both 11-3 after winning their Saturday games.
SPU hosts Western Washington on Thursday, March 5 in its final regular-season game. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion. Following Thursday's pivotal conference clash, Western hosts Central Washington on Saturday.
Saint Martin's (21-7) improved to 9-5 in GNAC games and drew a split of the season series with SPU. The Falcons were 92-84 victors on Jan. 8 in Seattle.
The Saints led 37-27 at halftime and extended that margin to 53-38 with an 8-2 run started by five points from Linton.
The Falcons staged a rally midway through the second half. The run culminated with an 8-1 surge that cut the deficit to 65-62 on a
Casey Reed layup with 7:48 left to play.
Saint Martin's answered with a 10-2 run to repel the rally and take control of the game for good. Poole, who was sidelined with four fouls, returned to the game and started the surge with a layup and two free throws that pushed the lead back to 69-62.
Twelve of the final 18 points were scored from the free throw line by the Saints, who shot 26-of-35 from the line for the game.
Linton scored 26 points, Richardson had 25 and Poole 20. No other Saints player had more than five points.
Rafael Moreira paced SPU with 17 points.
Brandon Larrieu added 14 while Reed and
Adam Wardell had 10 apiece.
The Falcons were without the services of their leading scorer
Chris Banchero (Seattle, Wash.) The sophomore guard, who averages 15.7 points per game, injured his wrist in Wednesday's 98-65 win at Montana State Billings.
“We just had to play a different style without Banchero,” said Coach Jeff Hironaka, whose Falcons had their season-best five-game winning streak snapped. “We're just not quite as aggressive off the bounce when he's out of there.”
Stellar shooting has been SPU's signature all season. The Falcons entered the game leading the GNAC and ranking No. 2 nationally with 52.6 percent field goal accuracy as a team. They topped the 50-percent plateau 19 times.
Their shooting strokes deserted them Saturday in a season-low 37.5-percent effort (24-of-64). SPU hit just 4-of-20 shots from 3-point range.
“We shot terrible. They defended us pretty well and we just never got in the rhythm,” Hironaka described. “We just didn't hit shots. We got satisfied taking perimeter shots and they didn't go down.
"We shot 30 percent in the first half (10-of-33), so you're not going to win many games doing that.”
Saint Martin's countered with a 56-percent performance (15-of-29) from the field.
“They just took it inside on us. They just powered it in with Richardson and Poole,” said Hironaka.
Poole made all seven of his shots and Richardson hit 9-of-12 attempts.
The Saints scored the game's first seven points and never trailed. They led by as many as 16 points in the first half, going ahead 24-8 on a Linton jump shot.
SPU responded with a 13-2 run and drew within 26-21 on a shot in the lane from Moreira. The 6-foot-9 center was the only Falcon to make more than half of his shots with an 8-for-14 effort.
Thursday's 7 p.m. game marks the final Brougham Pavilion appearance for
Casey Reed, Seattle Pacific's lone senior.
Not only does Thursday's contest have conference championship implications, but Hironaka emphasized that his team's playoff aspirations will be determined by their performance in that game. The Falcons are currently listed sixth in the regional rankings from which the eight-team NCAA Regional field will be drawn.
“If you win you have a chance, there is no guarantee. If you lose you're done, your season is over probably.”
Seattle Pacific vs. Saint Martin's
Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
At Marcus Pavilion/Lacey, Wash.
SAINT MARTIN'S UNIVERSITY 85, SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY 72
SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY (18-8, GNAC 11-4)
Moreira 8-14 1-6 17; Larrieu 4-13 5-7 14; Wardell 2-5 5-6 10; Reed 4-12 2-2 10; Downs 2-8 4-4 9; Diederichs 3-5 0-0 7; Vranes 1-5 3-3 5; Moll 0-0 0-0 0; McHugh 0-0 0-0 0; Campanaro 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 24-64 20-28 72.
SAINT MARTIN'S UNIVERSITY (21-7, GNAC 9-5)
Linton 7-17 10-10 26; Richardson 9-12 7-10 25; Poole 7-7 6-6 20; Nixon 1-3 2-4 5; Squiers 2-5 0-0 4; Alexander 1-3 0-2 2; Green 1-2 0-1 2; Howard 0-1 1-2 1; Henze 0-0 0-0 0; Smith 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 28-50 26-35 85.
Seattle Pacific University.... 27 - 45 -- 72
Saint Martin's University..... 37 - 48 -- 85
3-point goals--Seattle Pacific University 4-20 (Diederichs 1-2; Downs 1-6; Larrieu 1-5; Wardell 1-2; Campanaro 0-1; Vranes 0-3; Reed 0-1), Saint Martin's University 3-9 (Linton 2-7; Nixon 1-1; Alexander 0-1).
Fouled out--Seattle Pacific University-None, Saint Martin's University-None.
Rebounds--Seattle Pacific University 35 (Moreira 8), Saint Martin's University 33 (Richardson 11).
Assists--Seattle Pacific University 13 (Reed 3; Campanaro 3; Larrieu 3), Saint Martin's University 15 (Linton 8).
Total fouls--Seattle Pacific University 28, Saint Martin's University 19.
Technical fouls—Seattle Pacific University-None, Saint Martin's University-None.
Att.-1,283
