Box score, play-by-play

SEATTLE – Jeff Downs tied his career high with 23 points on Friday night – getting 21 of them from behind the 3-point arc – and was one of four Seattle Pacific players in double figures as the Falcons routed 23rd-ranked Chaminade in the first round of the SPU Invitational, 79-65.

"I was extremely pleased with how we played tonight," exclaimed second-year SPU coach Ryan Looney. "Chaminade is a great team that had a close loss against Michigan State a week ago and followed it up with a win over Oklahoma in their tournament in Hawaii. We knew that we had to play well tonight."

Senior wing Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) previously erupted for 23 points on Jan. 10, 2009 at home against Montana State Billings.



SPU senior point guard Chris Banchero (Seattle/O'Dea), who was kept off the scoreboard until 1:17 remained in the first half, finished with 15 points. Sophomore post Andy Poling (Portland, Ore.) added 13, and junior wing Jeff Dorman (Vancouver, Wash./Clackamas CC) chipped in 10.

"We did the best job we've done to this point this year spreading the ball around on offense and being balanced," Looney said of his Falcons, who were credited with assists on 24 of their 28 baskets.

Banchero's total puts him within five points of 1,200 for his SPU career. He ranks 13th among all-time SPU scorers.

Poling, a transfer from Gonzaga, made it a double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds. It was his first double-double for Seattle Pacific.

The Falcons (3-2) tallied the first eight points of the game – including back-to-back treys by Downs to open the scoring – and never trailed.

Chaminade (5-3), which stunned NCAA Division I member Oklahoma in the Maui Invitational, 68-64 on Nov. 24, twice got as close as two, the last time at 24-22 late in the first half – before Seattle Pacific gradually pulled away.

The Falcons had a 10-point lead at halftime, 37-27, and the Silverswords never got closer than seven during the second half. SPU led by as many as 22.

Downs hit his first four shots from long range, and finished 7 of 10 from behind the arc.



"Jeff's a guy that if he hits one he can get it going really fast. His teammates did a great job early in the game identifying that," Looney said. "To his credit he knocked them all down.

Downs praised his teammates' precise passes for enabling his stellar shooting display. His only two-point basket, a layup with 9:20 left in the game, came off a feed from his younger brother. A Falcons' freshman, David Downs distributed four assists.

"If I'm making shots it's because my teammates are finding me in the open court," the elder Downs said. "I got a couple and then it kind of got me some confidence. Then I just kept it going."

His performance came on the heels of eight treys by Banchero in last Saturday's win at Grand Canyon. The single-game SPU record for 3-pointers made is nine.

For the game, the Falcons shot 50 percent from downtown, hitting 11 of 22. Overall, they hit 46.7 percent from the floor (28 of 60) and limited Chaminade to 34.9 percent shooting (22 of 63), including just 3 of 15 from 3-point range.

Steven Bennett led the Silverswords with 20 points. Mamadou Diarra, a 7-foot center who averages a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, wound up with 13 and 10, respectively.

In the first game of the tournament, Central Washington hung on to beat Grand Canyon, 56-52.

SPU faces Grand Canyon on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the second time in a week. Banchero matched his career high with 34 points in the Falcons 79-68 win over the Antelopes in Phoenix on Nov. 27.

"Grand Canyon is good. They played us tough at their place," said Looney. "They are a team that plays really hard and we're going to have to match that intensity.

"We scheduled tough this year and I'm glad we did. It will really prepare us for the GNAC season coming up after Christmas break."

In the opener of Saturday's doubleheader, Central Washington takes on Chaminade at 5 p.m.

NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL

SPU Invitational

Friday, Dec. 3, 2010

Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

 

Seattle Pacific 79, (#23) Chaminade 65

 

CHAMINADE (5-3)

Bennett, Steven 6-16 5-6 20; Clayborn, Rickey 7-13 0-3 14; Diarra, Mamadou

4-7 5-8 13; Haskins, De'Andre 2-11 4-4 8; Cooks, Dominique 2-4 0-1 4;

Curtis, Chris 1-7 0-0 2; Coulibaly, Waly 0-3 2-2 2; Ubah, Rashaad 0-0 2-4 2;

Hanson, Shane 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-63 18-28 65.

SEATTLE PACIFIC (3-2)

Downs, Jeff 8-11 0-0 23; Banchero, Chris 4-9 6-8 15; Poling, Andy 5-15 3-4

13; Dorman, Jeff 4-5 0-0 10; Sweet, Ryan 4-6 1-2 9; Downs, David 1-1 0-0 3;

Niang, Modou 1-2 0-0 2; Anderson, Jake 0-7 2-2 2; Moll, Kellan 1-3 0-0 2;

Morse, Scott 0-1 0-0 0; Hope, Grant 0-0 0-0 0; Carel, Riley 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals 28-60 12-16 79.

Chaminade.......................   27   38  -   65

Seattle Pacific..................   37   42  -   79

3-point goals--Chaminade 3-15 (Bennett, Steven 3-8; Haskins, De'Andre 0-2;

Cooks, Dominique 0-1; Coulibaly, Waly 0-3; Hanson, Shane 0-1), Seattle

Pacific 11-22 (Downs, Jeff 7-10; Dorman, Jeff 2-3; Downs, David 1-1;

Banchero, Chris 1-3; Anderson, Jake 0-2; Moll, Kellan 0-2; Morse, Scott

0-1). Fouled out--Chaminade-None, Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds--Chaminade 36 (Diarra, Mamadou 10), Seattle Pacific 43 (Poling, Andy 10). Assists--Chaminade 9 (Bennett, Steven 4), Seattle Pacific 24 (Banchero, Chris 6). Total fouls--Chaminade 18, Seattle Pacific 23. Technical

fouls--Chaminade-None, Seattle Pacific-None. A-518.