• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

RENO, Nev. – Chris Banchero scored 33 points and Seattle Pacific continued its run of success against NCAA Division I opponents with an 84-81 victory over Nevada in a men's basketball exhibition game at the Lawlor Events Center.

The Falcons, ranked No. 10 in the NCAA Division II preseason coaches' poll, won their exhibition opener on Tuesday with an 87-82 decision at Eastern Washington. Banchero poured in 38 points in that contest.

Second-year SPU coach Ryan Looney believes these close contests against high-caliber exhibition opponents will pay dividends during the regular season.

“I don't think it can do anything but help later in the season,” he projected. “In both games now we've gotten ourselves in some late-game situations and you can't simulate those in practice. We've had to change defenses and draw up some plays on offense to get ourselves some baskets.”

Banchero, a product of Seattle's O'Dea High School, hit 9 of 18 shots from the field and converted 13 of 15 free throws.

The 2010 Great Northwest Athletic Conference and West Region Player of the Year, Banchero was named a preseason All-American by The Sporting News.

Looney is trying to capitalize on the unique scoring abilities of his senior point guard.

“We talked with our whole team about valuing Chris' ability to score. It was going to be important that everybody stick to the system, but Chris was going to be the one guy that had a little bit more freedom on the offensive end because of all the different things he can do,” Looney explained.

“Obviously Chris has embraced that role, but I think it's only working because his teammates have too.”

Andy Poling, a 6-foot-11 sophomore transfer from Gonzaga, added 17 points for SPU and Ryan Sweet had 10.

The Wolfpack were led by the 28 points of Deonte Burton and 15 from Jordan Finn.

The Falcons extended a 36-32 halftime lead to as many as 10 points in the second half. Kellan Moll's layup with 12:01 left to play put SPU up 56-46.

Nevada used a 19-9 run to tie the score and took its only lead of the second half, at 70-69, on two free throws by Burton with 5:23 remaining.

SPU scored the next five points, on a jumper by Scott Morse and an Andy Poling three-point play, to reclaim the lead for good.

The Wolfpack drew within 78-77 on two more Burton free throws at 0:34, but SPU sank its final six free throws during the final 22 seconds to secure the win.

The Falcons final two pairs of free throws were made by the Downs brothers, both products of Bellevue Christian High School. Jeff, a senior, hit two free throws with 14 seconds left and David, a freshman, nailed two at 0:08 to cap the SPU scoring.

Nevada had a commanding 45-31 rebounding margin, but the Falcons took better care of the ball with just seven turnovers to 16 by the home team. They parlayed that into an 18-6 advantage in point-off-turnovers.

SPU shot 44 percent from the field (27 of 61), including 5 of 15 from 3-point range. UNR made 41 percent of its shots (25 of 61) and 4 of 17 treys.

In the first half, Sweet broke a 24-24 tie on two free throws with 2:47 on the clock, starting a run of six straight SPU points.

Banchero tallied eight of the Falcons' final 10 first-half points, including a jumper with 12 seconds remaining that gave them a 36-32 halftime edge.

SPU played without starting wing Jake Anderson and reserve post Modou Niang, a 6-foot-10 junior transfer from Utah State.

“I couldn't be more proud of our team. They had to play through some adversity because we made the decision to hold out Jake and Modou because of injury. It didn't make any sense to get the more hurt in an exhibition game,” said Looney.

“Because of that I reduced our rotation a little bit and gave some other guys a chance to play more minutes than maybe they normally would. It forced people to have to play positions where they haven't had a ton of reps in practice. Our guys really answered the challenge.”

The Seattle Pacific men play their final exhibition game at home on Tuesday, Nov. 2 against Northwest University. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion.


NCAA Men's Basketball (exhibition)
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Lawlor Events Center/Reno, Nev.

Seattle Pacific 84, Nevada 81

SEATTLE PACIFIC
Sweet 3-6 4-7 10, Morse 3-4 0-0 6, Poling 7-17 3-6 17, Banchero 9-18 13-15 33, J. Downs 2-5 2-2 8, D. Downs 0-0 2-2 2, Dorman 2-9 1-2 6, Moll 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 27-61 25-34 84.

NEVADA
Panzer 1-3 0-0 2, Hunt 4-7 0-2 8, Evans 1-6 1-2 3, Burton 6-11 16-19 28, Story 3-11 0-0 8, Nyeko 0-1 0-0 0, Baldwin 2-6 1-2 6, Elliott 2-5 1-3 5, Fuetsch 0-0 0-0 0, Carp 1-1 0-1 2, Cukic 0-0 0-0 0, Finn 3-5 8-8 15, Burris 1-3 0-0 2, Conner 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-61 27-37 81.

Seattle Pacific ...................... 36 48 -- 84
Nevada ................................ 32 49 -- 81

3-point goals—SPU 5-15 (Banchero 2-5, J. Downs 2-5, Dorman 1-4, Sweet 0-1), UNR 4-17 (Story 2-6, Burton 0-3, Evans 0-2, Burris 0-2, Baldwin 1-1, Finn 1-1, Elliott 0-1, Panzer 0-1). Fouled out--SPU: Banchero, UNR: Hunt. Rebounds--SPU 31 (Sweet 8), UNR 45 (Elliott 10). Assists--SPU 15 (Banchero, Morse, Sweet, Dorman 3), UNR 10 (Burris, Conner 2). Total fouls--SPU 26, UNR 29. Technical fouls--none. Att.--2,984.