• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

CHENEY, Wash. – Chris Banchero clearly paid attention during summer meetings with his coach.

Banchero scored 10 of his game-high 38 points during the final 1:22 Tuesday as the NCAA Division II Seattle Pacific men went ahead early and held on for an 87-82 exhibition basketball victory over Eastern Washington at Reese Court.

“Chris was extremely good tonight. Obviously he scored a lot of points, but there were some stretches in the second half where we faced some adversity with injuries and foul trouble and he made some huge plays down the stretch that basically sealed the game for us,” said second-year SPU coach Ryan Looney.

Banchero was already an accomplished player. He received the 2010 Great Northwest Athletic Conference and West Region Player of the Year awards. Prior to this season he was named to The Sporting News preseason All-American team.

But Coach Looney believed Banchero could be even better.

“We talked a lot in the off season about him becoming a better point guard and being able to get his teammates involved. He has really grown in that area.”

Banchero accounted for 56 of SPU's 87 points, distributing nine assists for 18 of his teammates' points. The senior point guard's career-high total will remain at the 34 points he scored last season against Central Washington as Tuesday's exhibition statistics will not count for record purposes.

A product of Seattle's O'Dea High School, Banchero hit 11 of 19 shots from the field at Eastern, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. He shot 12-of-15 from the free throw line.

Sophomore Andy Poling, a 6-foot-11 transfer from Gonzaga, had 16 points and six assists in his Falcons debut. Senior Ryan Sweet added 13 points for SPU, which converted 62 percent of its shots (31 of 50).

“We shot it extremely well. We were able to get ourselves good looks at the basket in both halves,” Looney described.

EWU, which shot 46 percent (28 of 61), was led by the 22 points of Tremayne Johnson. Cliff Colimon scored 19 points and Kevin Winford had 14 for the Eagles.

The Falcons had lost their previous six exhibition games against NCAA Division I opponents, last winning 76-68 against Murray State in 2006. SPU recorded a regular-season win over a D-I competitor on Nov. 25, 2008 with a 75-65 victory at Southern Utah.

Banchero hit a jumper at the halftime buzzer to give his team its biggest first-half margin at 40-30.

SPU tallied the first seven points of the second half, claiming its largest lead at 47-30 with 18:10 left to play.

Six different players scored for the Eagles during a 16-3 surge that brought them within 54-51. Banchero answered with a 3-pointer to halt that rally.

Eastern stayed close and drew within 75-72 on a layin by Cliff Ederaine with 1:12 remaining. He was fouled, but missed the free-throw opportunity to cut the deficit to two.

Banchero netted the next four points, on a three-point play and a free throw, to give SPU a 79-72 cushion with 40 seconds to play.

EWU narrowed the margin to 85-82 on a Rashano McRae layin at 0:07. Junior Jeff Dorman, who transferred to SPU from Clackamas Community College, sealed the win on two free throws with one second on the clock.

The Falcons were also victorious in their last visit to Cheney, posting an 80-66 win at EWU in 1987.

The Seattle Pacific men have another exhibition against a Division I opponent as they travel to Reno to meet Nevada on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.

“I'm just excited for the opportunity to play them,” said Looney. “With this game tonight and that one on Saturday, the chance to play two Division I opponents early in the season will definitely get us a little bit battle tested and ready for conference play later in the year.”

The Falcons hit four of their first six shots and jumped out to an 8-2 lead just over three minutes into the contest. Their first three baskets, including two by Banchero, came off fastbreaks. Poling capped the run with a dunk for his first points.

The SPU lead was 14-8 before EWU reeled off eight straight points to take its first lead, at 16-14 with 11:10 left in the first half.

The Eagles last lead was 18-17 before SPU scored seven straight points, five of them from Banchero, to go ahead for good at 24-18 with 9:02 until intermission. The Falcons closed the half with an 8-2 run during the final 2:25 en route to a 40-30 halftime advantage.

The Falcons play their first home game, an exhibition against Northwest University, on Tuesday, Nov. 9. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion.


NCAA Men's Basketball (exhibition)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Reece Court/Cheney, Wash.

Seattle Pacific 87, Eastern Washington 82

SEATTLE PACIFIC
Sweet 6-6 1-2 13, Anderson 3-3 0-1 6, Poling 7-13 2-4 16, Banchero 11-19 12-15 38, J. Downs 2-4 0-0 6, D. Downs 0-1 0-0 0, Morse 1-3 1-2 4, Dorman 1-1 2-3 4, Moll 0-0 0-0 0, Niang 0-0 0-3 0. Totals 31-50 18-30 87.

EASTERN WASHINGTON
Johnson 7-11 8-9 22, Ederaine 4-13 1-3 9, Griffin 4-6 1-5 9, Colimon 6-17 3-3 19, Winford 4-9 3-3 14, Brown 1-3 2-2 5, McRae 1-1 0-0 2, Henry 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 28-61 18-26 82.

Seattle Pacific ................... 40 47 - 87
Eastern Washington ......... 30 52 - 82

3-point goals—SPU 7-11 (Banchero 4-7, J. Downs 2-3, Morse 1-1), EWU 8-19 (Colimon 4-11, Winford 3-5, Brown 1-2, Johnson 0-1). Fouled out—SPU: Poling, EWU: Johnson, Ederaine, Griffin. Rebounds—SPU 26 (Sweet 6), EWU 38 (Ederaine 14). Assists—SPU 20 (Banchero 9), EWU 11 (Johnson, Winford, Brown 3). Total fouls—SPU 25, EWU 25. Technical fouls--none. Att.--1,721.