• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

SEATTLE -- Ryan Sweet registered his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds Saturday, leading short-handed Seattle Pacific to its fifth straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory, a 79-69 decision over Montana State Billings at Brougham Pavilion.

The 12th-ranked Falcons (14-2) remained in first place, improving their conference record to 5-0. The Yellowjackets (9-5) dropped to 3-2 in GNAC play.

SPU was playing without 6-foot-9 starting post player Rafael Moreira, who missed his first game due to an injury. Moreira, who is averaging 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds, is expected back for the next game.

Sweet, a 6-foot-7 junior from Port Orchard's South Kitsap High School, filled the void. He grabbed 11 of 25 boards for the Falcons, who were outrebounded by 13. Sweet hit 4 of 7 shots from the field and contributed three assists.

SPU rallied from an 11-point, first-half deficit on the strength of sensational second-half shooting. The Falcons shot 75 percent (18 of 24) after halftime, including 9-of-13 accuracy from 3-point range.

The hot shooting came after SPU made just 39 percent (10 of 26) of its first-half field goal tries.

Junior Chris Banchero broke a 35-35 tie with a 3-pointer, giving SPU the lead for good with 14:19 left in the game. That ignited a 22-8 run that was completely comprised of four 3-pointers and five layups. The run concluded with four unanswered layups for the Falcons, who claimed a 57-43 lead with 8:14 remaining. The Yellowjackets never got closer than seven points after that.

SPU senior Rob Diederichs distributed eight of his season-high 10 assists during the second half.

Banchero shot 9 of 14 from the field, including 4 of 6 treys, en route to a career-high 27 points. Brandon Larrieu added 16 points for the Falcons and also shot 4 of 6 on 3-pointers.

MSUB couldn't keep up with the hot-shooting Falcons, despite making 50 percent of its second-half attempts (13 of 26). Billings shot 44 percent (26 of 59) for the game while SPU finished at 56 percent (28 of 50).

The loss overshadowed the outstanding performance of the Yellowjackets' DaVell Jackson. He amassed seven points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.

Derrick Wright and DeAndre Chambers each scored 19 points to lead Billings, which also got 11 from Brad Hodge and 10 from Mike McCrary.

The lead changed hands six times in the first half before the Yellowjackets opened an 11-point advantage. McCrary scored six points to fuel a 10-0 run that he both started and concluded with dunks. That surge netted MSUB a 28-17 lead with 4:11 left in the first half.

The Falcons drew within 30-27 by halftime with a 10-3 closing spree.

The SPU men remain at home for their next two games, beginning Thursday (Jan. 28) against Alaska Anchorage. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion where SPU conducts is annual Homecoming basketball doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 1:30 p.m.


NCAA Men's Basketball
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

at (#12) Seattle Pacific 79, Montana State Billings 69

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (9-5, 3-2 GNAC)
Wright 7-11 5-7 19; Chambers 7-14 2-2 19; Hodge 5-7 1-1 11; McCrary 3-7 4-4 10; Jackson 3-11 1-2 7; Taylor 1-2 0-0 3; Parghalava 0-6 0-2 0; Hentzen 0-1 0-0 0; Blaine 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 13-18 69.

SEATTLE PACIFIC (14-2, 5-0 GNAC)
Banchero 9-14 5-13 27; Larrieu 6-11 0-0 16; Sweet 4-7 2-2 11; Downs 3-5 1-2 9; Wardell 4-5 0-0 9; Anderson 2-5 2-4 7; Morse 0-1 0-0 0; Campanaro 0-1 0-0 0; Diederichs 0-1 0-1 0; Vranes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-50 10-22 79.

Montana State Billings........   30   39  -   69
Seattle Pacific.....................   27   52  -   79

3-point goals--MSUB 4-14 (Chambers 3-7; Taylor 1-2; McCrary 0-2; Parghalava 0-3), SPU 13-26 (Larrieu 4-6; Banchero 4-6; Downs 2-4; Sweet 1-4; Anderson 1-3; Wardell 1-1; Campanaro 0-1; Diederichs 0-1). Fouled out--MSUB-Hodge, SPU-Sweet. Rebounds--MSUB 38 (Jackson 10), SPU 25 (Sweet 11). Assists--MSUB 18 (Jackson 12), SPU 20 (Diederichs 10). Total fouls--MSUB 21, SPU 16. Technical fouls--MSUB-Chambers, SPU-None. Att.-612.