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SEATTLE – Blair Wheadon scored 29 points, including a pair of free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining Thursday that secured Western Oregon's 88-85 win over Seattle Pacific in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Brougham Pavilion.

Western (7-6) improved to 2-1 in conference play with its first win over SPU since Jan. 27, 2005. The Falcons had won the previous 11 encounters.

Defending GNAC champion Seattle Pacific (6-3) lost its league opener for just the second time in 10 years. Playing for the first time in 12 days due to the Christmas break, the Falcons had their five-game winning streak snapped.



"Our desire and passion to be there today wasn't where it needed to be," said second-year SPU coach Ryan Looney. "We've had times this year when we've been really, really good and most of it has been a direct reflection of our desire to play. I didn't think we had that tonight."

The Wolves scored 11 of their final 13 points from the free throw line, where they converted 19 of 20 shots during the second half. The lone miss was the first of two tries by Tarance Glynn. He made the second to give the Wolves an 86-83 lead with 7.1 seconds left to play.

Chris Banchero broke loose for a layup with 1.9 seconds remaining to draw SPU within 86-85, but Wheadon's two free throws sealed the outcome.

Wheadon, who sank all eight of his free throws, made 8 of 11 attempts from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range. He helped the Wolves shoot 51 percent (28 of 55) as a team and 23 of 27 from the line.

Jordan Freelander tallied 17 points for WOU, Glynn added 16 and Kyle Long had 14. Glynn grabbed 12 rebounds to complete the double-double.

The Falcons missed their first four shots en route to a subpar 36-percent performance (13 of 36) from the floor in the opening half.

"Western Oregon played really well tonight. They did some things defensively, especially early in the game, that gave us problems," Looney said.

Banchero overcame a sluggish start to finish with 26 points. He was limited to just two first-half points, on 1 of 7 shooting. Banchero distributed 10 assists as one of three Falcons to register a double-double.

"They just did some unique things defensively that slowed him down a little bit," Looney said of Banchero, who tallied half of his 24 second-half points from the free throw line. "We made a couple adjustments at the break and Chris did a good job responding."

Ryan Sweet amassed 18 points and 10 rebounds while Andy Poling had 13 points and 11 boards. They fueled SPU's 38-27 rebounding advantage.

The Wolves claimed their largest lead, at 73-63, on a jumper by Long with 3:45 left to play in the game. SPU staged a 9-2 run to get back into the game and set up the tight finish.

In the first half, WOU capitalized on six straight SPU misses to break a 14-14 tied with eight straight points. Wheadon capped the run on two free throws with 10:11 left in the half and the Wolves leading 22-14.

SPU responded with an 11-2 run, including five points from Jeff Downs, to go ahead 25-24 with 6:16 on the clock. Downs finished the game with 13 points.

The Falcons scored the final three points of the half, topped by a David Downs free throws with 2.7 seconds left, to post a 37-35 halftime lead.

SPU shot 54 percent (14 of 26) in the second half to bring it's game accuracy up to 44 percent (27 of 62).

The Falcons continue conference play at home on Saturday, Jan. 1. They host Saint Martin's at 4:15 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.

"We've got to bounce right back tomorrow with practice and get ready for Saint Martin's," Looney said.


NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

WESTERN OREGON 88, SEATTLE PACIFIC 85

WESTERN OREGON (7-6, 2-1 GNAC)
Wheadon 8-11 8-8 29; Freelander 5-6 6-7 17; Glynn 5-12 6-8 16; Long 6-11 0-0 14; Nelson 2-8 2-2 6; Veal 1-3 0-0 3; Davis 1-2 0-0 2; White 0-1 1-2 1; Davis 0-0 0-0 0; Bbayaga 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 23-27 88.

SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-3, 0-1 GNAC)
Banchero 6-17 12-15 26; Sweet 6-12 4-5 18; Poling 5-12 3-4 13; J. Downs 4-11 2-3 13; D. Downs 2-2 1-2 7; Niang 2-2 0-0 4; Morse 1-2 0-0 2; Anderson 1-3 0-0 2; Moll 0-0 0-0 0; Dorman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 22-29 85.

Halftime -- SPU 37, WOU 35.

3-point goals--WOU 9-19 (Wheadon 5-8; Long 2-4; Veal 1-3; Freelander 1-2; Nelson 0-1; Glynn 0-1), SPU 9-22 (J. Downs 3-9; Banchero 2-7; Sweet 2-3; D. Downs 2-2; Dorman 0-1). Fouled out--WOU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--WOU 27 (Glynn 12), SPU 38 (Poling 11). Assists--WOU 15 (Nelson 4), SPU 20 (Banchero 10). Total fouls--WOU 21, SPU 18. Technical fouls--WOU-None, SPU-None. Att.-328.


Records:
Seattle Pacific 6-3, 0-1 GNAC
Western Oregon 7-6, 2-1 GNAC

Next Game:
Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Jan. 1, 4:15 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion