• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Brandon Larrieu scored 23 points Saturday, but it wasn't enough for the ninth-ranked Seattle Pacific men who lost their final regular-season game 75-64 at Alaska Anchorage in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

Despite the loss, the SPU men will make their sixth straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearance, beginning with a first-round game on Friday. They were listed No. 1 in last week's West Region rankings and may still be selected to host the first three rounds of the regional playoffs on March 12, 13 and 15 at Brougham Pavilion.

The site for the men's basketball West Regional should be announced Sunday night, but the playoff pairings might not be released until Tuesday due to some postponed games in Hawai'i that will be played Monday night.

The brackets for the other seven regions will be announced late Sunday.

SPU, which clinched the Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball championship last Saturday, completed the league campaign with a 13-3 record. Western Washington finished second in the standings with a 12-4 GNAC mark.

The Falcons (22-5), who fell 113-105 in overtime on Thursday at Fairbanks, lost back-to-back games for just the second time this season. They were swept on their two-game Alaska road trip for the first time since the 2003 season.

Anchorage (17-10, 8-8 GNAC) led by as many as 13 points during the second half before SPU staged a late rally. The Falcons drew within 63-62 on a 3-pointer by Larrieu with 3:08 left to play.

SPU had a chance to take the lead while trailing 65-64 with 1:52 remaining, but the team's best free throw shooter Jeff Downs missed a pair. He entered the game shooting 79 percent from the charity stripe.

The Seawolves scored the final 10 points over the last 1:41 to secure the victory. Brandon Walker score six straight points during that game-closing stretch and led UAA with 23 points.

Casey Robinson chipped in 15 points for the Seawolves, who also got 12 from Drew Robinson.

UAA converted nine of its last 10 free throws in the final 2:25 after missing six of its first nine second-half attempts, including three front ends of one-and-one situations.

Larrieu scored 16 of his team-high 23 points in the first half. He shot 7 of 16 for the game and 5 of 10 from 3-point range.

SPU sophomore Jake Anderson tallied a career-high 15 points for the second straight game while junior Ryan Sweet contributed 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Falcons junior Chris Banchero, who scored 29 at Fairbanks to push his team-leading average to 20.0 points, was limited to six points Saturday. Banchero poured in 33 points in the first meeting, SPU's 80-71 victory over Anchorage on Jan. 28 in Seattle.

After Larrieu opened the scoring with a 3-pointer 20 seconds into the contest, the Seawolves reeled off nine unanswered. Casey Robinson capped the run with a trey at 16:57.

That UAA lead expanded to 22-10 before the Falcons gradually chipped away to draw within 33-29 on another Larrieu 3-pointer at 3:05. The Seawolves netted the final four points, including a runner in the lane by Drew Robinson at the buzzer that concluded the half with UAA ahead 37-29.

The Falcons entered the game as the nation's best shooting team at 51.9 percent. They were limited to just 38.5 percent (20 of 52) at Anchorage, their second-lowest effort of the season.

The Seawolves countered with 50-percent shooting (25 of 50), including 8 of 16 accuracy from 3-point range. SPU also made eight treys, but in 25 attempts.

Make sure to visit www.SPUfalcons.com on Sunday around 7:30 p.m. for information about the NCAA Tournament pairings and West Region venue.


NCAA Men's Basketball
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Wells Fargo Sports Complex/Anchorage, Alaska

Alaska Anchorage 75, (#9) Seattle Pacific 64

SEATTLE PACIFIC (22-5, 13-3 GNAC)
Larrieu 7-16 4-4 23; Anderson 6-8 1-1 15; Sweet 2-7 8-11 13; Banchero 2-10 2-2 6; Wardell 2-5 0-0 4; Diederichs, 1-3 0-1 2; Morse 0-0 1-2 1; Downs 0-3 0-2 0; Campanaro 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-52 16-23 64.

ALASKA ANCHORAGE (17-10, 8-8 GNAC)
Walker 8-12 5-7 23; Robinson 5-9 2-2 15; Robinson 3-3 6-8 12; White 3-6 0-0 9; Stevens 1-3 3-4 5; White 2-2 1-1 5; Lao 1-4 0-1 2; Gibcus 1-4 0-1 2; Pacitti 1-7 0-0 2. Totals 25-50 17-24 75.

Seattle Pacific.................... 29   35 - 64
Alaska Anchorage.............. 37   38 - 75

3-point goals--SPU 8-25 (Larrieu 5-10; Anderson 2-3; Sweet 1-4; Diederichs 0-2; Downs 0-2; Wardell 0-2; Banchero 0-2), UAA 8-16 (White 3-5; Robinson 3-6; Walker 2-2; Pacitti 0-3). Fouled out--SPU-Downs , UAA-None. Rebounds--SPU 36 (Sweet 10), UAA 30 (Walker 9). Assists--SPU 15 (Sweet 5), UAA 15 (Gibcus 4; Robinson 4). Total fouls--SPU 22, UAA 20. Technical fouls--SPU-None, UAA-None. Att.-815.