• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Seattle Pacific got a career-high 25 points from senior Ryan Sweet sparking an offense that produced two stretches of 11 unanswered points. Yet all Coach Ryan Looney wanted to talk about after the game was defense.

Senior Jeff Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) compiled all 17 of his points after halftime Saturday, helping the SPU men rally from a 12-point second-half deficit to win 77-59 at Western Oregon.

“It was all a result of how we were defending,” said Looney about the comeback that resulted in a 30-point swing during the final 17 minutes. “You look at the stats and we shot 64 percent in the second half. In all reality it was that one simple thing -- we defended much better which led to rebound situations where we could advance the ball up the floor into offense.”

The third-place Falcons (13-5) improved to 7-3 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with their fifth straight victory. That matches their season-best winning streak.

Western Oregon (11-10) won this season's first meeting with an 88-85 decision on Dec. 30 in Seattle. Saturday's setback dropped the Wolves' GNAC record to 6-5.

WOU extended a 35-26 halftime advantage to 42-30 on a 3-pointer by Kyle Long with 17:06 left in the game.

Downs answered with his first points on a 3-pointer with 16:51 to play. He tallied three consecutive baskets for SPU, getting a quick eight points in one-minute, 30-seconds after being blanked during the opening 23 minutes of the game.

The Falcons chipped away at the lead and then used an 11-point run to erase it altogether. Andy Poling converted two free throws with 10:37 on the clock to cap the run that put SPU ahead 51-48.

Long made a layup with 6:26 remaining to bring the Wolves within 62-57. But that was their last basket of the game.

Seattle Pacific closed the contest with a 15-2 spree as WOU's only points inside the final 6:25 came on a pair of Blair Wheadon free throws at 1:32.

Poling, a 6-foot-11 sophomore transfer from Gonzaga, registered his fifth double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. He helped SPU to a 32-25 edge on the boards.

Sweet (Port Orchard, Wash./South Kitsap HS) hit 11 of 16 shots from the field and converted all three free throw attempts. He also distributed four assists.

“He was really big for us. Ryan did a nice job around the basket in a lot of different areas,” Looney described. “He got some offensive-rebound, putback-type stuff and he had some post-up baskets. Then he even hit some mid-range shots against their zone.”

Sweet eclipsed by five the career-high of 20 points he established on Feb. 11, 2010 against Western Oregon. His previous season-best scoring was a 19-point performance versus Montana State Billings on Jan. 22.

Wheadon scored 14 points to pace the Wolves, who also got 11 from Tarance Glynn and 10 from Jamaal Veal.

The Falcons shot 55 percent for the game (29 of 53), including a sizzling 64-percent (18 of 28) in the second half. They limited Western to 45-percent accuracy (23 of 51) and just 10 of 24 shooting in the second half.

In the first half, a dunk by SPU's Poling tied the score 12-12 with 9:08 left in the first half. Veal scored four of the Wolves next five baskets to ignite a 17-7 surge that netted a 29-19 advantage.

Veal had 10 first-half points, more than double the 4.6-point average he had entering the game. He did not score in the second period as SPU out-pointed Western 51-24 after halftime.

“We struggled in the first half. Western Oregon did a nice job putting a ton of pressure on the ball,” said Looney, who then returned to his persistent post-game theme. “In all reality it was a direct result of us not defending very well. There were a lot of possessions where we were having to take it out of the net and play against their pressure.

“In the second half we did an unbelievable job defensively. We held them to 24 points. When we were able to get stops it was easier for our point guards to bring the ball down the floor against no pressure, get us into offense and execute the way we did.”

The Falcons remain on the road to visit Saint Martin's on Monday. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash.

The SPU men play their final regular-season home games next week, hosting Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, Feb. 3 and Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday, Feb. 5. Both games are 7 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion.

Those home games cap a stretch of five games in 11 days.

Is Looney concerned about the hectic competition schedule adversely impacting his team?

“If you are a player you like it. Right now our guys don't have to practice very much and they've won five straight games. Everyone is feeling good.”

After next week's action, Seattle Pacific concludes its regular-season schedule with five consecutive road games.


NCAA Men's Basketball
Saturday, January 19, 2011
New PE Building/Monmouth, Ore.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 77, WESTERN OREGON 59

SEATTLE PACIFIC (13-5, 7-3 GNAC)
Sweet 11-16 3-3 25, J. Downs 6-13 1-2 17, Poling 6-11 3-3 15, D. Downs 1-3 4-6 7, Morse 2-4 2-4 6, Niang 2-4 1-2 5, Anderson 1-1 0-0 2, Hope 0-0 0-0 0, Moll 0-0 0-0 0, Dorman 0-0 0-0 0, Carel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-53 14-20 77.

WESTERN OREGON (11-10, 6-5 GNAC)
Wheadon 5-11 2-3 14, Glynn 4-10 3-6 11, Veal 4-7 0-0 10, Nelson 3-4 0-0 8, Freelander 3-9 0-1 7, Long 3-7 0-0 7, White 1-2 0-0 2, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Bbayaga 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 23-51 5-12 59.

Seattle Pacific................... 26   51  - 77
Western Oregon................ 35   24  - 59

3-point goals--SPU 5-14 (J. Downs 4-10, D. Downs 1-2, Morse 0-1, Sweet 0-1), WOU 8-19 (Veal 2-3, Nelson 2-3, Wheadon 2-6, Long 1-4, Freelander 1-2, Glynn 0-1). Fouled out--SPU-None, WOU-None. Rebounds--SPU 32 (Poling 10), WOU 25 (Glynn 9). Assists--SPU 19 (D. Downs 6), WOU 12 (Glynn 4). Total fouls--SPU 16, WOU 21. Technical fouls--SPU-None, WOU-TEAM. A-813.