Box score, play-by-play

SEATTLE -- Ryan Sweet hit three free throws in the final 44 seconds as Seattle Pacific scored the final five points of the game to wipe out a three-point deficit and defeat Western Washington in a battle of nationally-ranked men's basketball teams on Thursday night in Brougham Pavilion, 67-65.

Junior point guard Chris Banchero (Seattle/O'Dea HS) pumped in 24 points for the 11th-ranked Falcons (19-3, 10-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference), and senior wing Brandon Larrieu (Puyallup, Wash./Franklin Pierce HS) added 21, including a scoop lay-in with 1:32 remaining that brought SPU within one point at 65-64.

After a Western Washington pass went out of bounds with 59.2 seconds left, Sweet was fouled and went to the line with 44.2 seconds left, hitting both free throws to put SPU in front, 66-65.

Western's Anderson launched a short floater from the right of the hoop that popped in and out, the ball was volleyed around, and Sweet came down with it. He was fouled by Anderson , went to the line and hit his first, but missed his second with 12.5 seconds left.

The 21st-ranked Vikings (22-5, 9-4 GNAC) had one more try, but a 3-point try by Derrick Webb from the left of the key bounced off at the buzzer.

Western Washington went scoreless for the final 1:57 of the game after Rory Blanche's five-foot banker from the left side pushed its lead to 65-62.

“We told our players during the week that both teams are really talented and both teams are going to be able to make runs,” Seattle Pacific coach Ryan Looney said. “We knew we would have to withstand their runs and make some of our own. Because of some of those toughness plays down the stretch, we were the last team to have a run.”

The win gave Seattle Pacific a sweep of the season series, and this one ended in somewhat similar fashion to the first game. In the contest at Bellingham on Jan. 23, the Falcons scored the final seven points on the way to a 73-66 victory.

It also gave the Falcons a full two-game lead -- including three games in the loss column -- on Western Washington in the GNAC standings. Seattle Pacific is ranked No. 1 in the West this week, and the Vikings are No. 2. The highest-ranked team at the end of the season gets to host the regional tournament.

“It's a huge win for us. Western is right with us in the regional rankings so it was good to beat them,” Banchero said. “We played hard tonight, everybody. We played well and hit those boards hard tonight.”

Banchero and Larrieu together accounted for 45 of SPU's 67 points.

“There aren't two other guys at their positions in the league that I would rather have,” Looney said.

Webb led Western Washington with 16 points. Zach Bruce and Morris Anderson added 12 apiece.

Junior post player Sweet (Port Orchard, Wash./South Kitsap HS) wound up with just five points for the game -- including those three late free throws. But he pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds, one more than his previous best of 12, which he set just one week ago on Feb. 11 in an 89-69 victory against Western Oregon.

Senior wing Rob Diederichs (Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood HS) handed out 11 assists to come within one of his career high. He also collected nine rebounds to go along with four points.

Seattle Pacific seemed to take command early in the second half, building a 48-36 with 15:17 play. But during the next 4½ minutes, Western Washington went on an 11-2 run to get within 50-47 at the 10:48 mark.

The Vikings, who hadn't led since 11-9 early in the game, finally went back in front at 57-54 on a 3-pointer by Morris Anderson with 7:44 to go. From there, the lead changed hands five more times and the score was tied twice.

SPU hits the road on Saturday, visiting Montana State Billings at 6:30 p.m. PST.


NCAA Men's Basketball
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

(No. 11) Seattle Pacific 67, (No. 21) Western Washington 65

WESTERN WASHINGTON (22-5, 9-4 GNAC)
Webb 7-15 0-0 16; Bruce 5-9 2-4 12; Anderson 5-11 0-0 12; Blanche 5-11 1-1 11; Ready 2-4 0-0 5; Vanderjagt 2-3 0-0 4; Mitchell 1-3 1-1 3; Severson 1-1 0-0 2; McAllister 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 4-6 65.

SEATTLE PACIFIC (19-3, 10-1 GNAC)
Banchero 11-20 2-2 24; Larrieu 9-16 1-2 21; Anderson 3-4 0-0 6; Downs 2-2 0-1 5; Sweet 1-8 3-4 5; Diederichs 2-2 0-0 4; Morse 1-3 0-0 2; Wardell 0-4 0-0 0; Vranes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 6-9 67.

Western Washington............   31   34  -   65
Seattle Pacific........................   35   32  -   67

3-point goals--WWU 5-13 (Anderson 2-5; Webb 2-6; Ready 1-2), SPU 3-12 (Larrieu 2-6; Downs 1-1; Sweet 0-1; Wardell 0-1; Anderson 0-1; Banchero 0-2). Fouled out--WWU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--WWU 30 (Webb 6), SPU 34 (Sweet 13). Assists--WWU 20 (Anderson 6), SPU 18 (Diederichs 11). Total fouls--WWU 16, SPU 10. Technical fouls--WWU-None, SPU-None. Att.-1,347.