• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Senior Jeff Downs scored 10 of his career-high 25 points inside the final four minutes Thursday, helping the Seattle Pacific men secure an 84-61 Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball victory over Alaska Fairbanks at the Patty Center.

The Falcons (8-3) improved to 2-1 in GNAC play while UAF (3-7) dropped to 0-3.

SPU gained control midway through the first half with a streak of 11 unanswered points. The surge was fueled by six points by Jake Anderson and five from Downs, whose layup with 10:21 left in the first half provided a 26-12 advantage.

Right before that run, Falcons leading scorer and playmaker Chris Banchero left the game after injuring his knee on a hard foul under the SPU basket. The senior point guard from Seattle's O'Dea High School had scored six straight points before departing with 12:52 left in the first half and his team leading 14-10. He did not return.

Banchero, the 2010 conference player of the year, brought 24-point and 6-assist averages into the contest.

“I'm excited about the way our guys responded to a little bit of adversity. Basically, when Chris went down we had to change our system and play a bit differently,” said second-year SPU coach Ryan Looney. “We made a little bit of an adjustment within our offense and that freed Jeff Downs up to make some big plays.”

SPU expanded its 42-28 halftime lead to as many as 18 points before the Nanooks began chipping away at the margin. They drew within 64-58 on two free throws by Aaron Kohring with 5:30 left to play.

Anderson responded with a 3-pointer from the top of the key at 4:58 to ignite another run of 11 consecutive points that clinched the game for the Falcons.

Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) converted 7 of 8 free throws and made a 3-pointer during the closing 3:57.

Senior Ryan Sweet (Port Orchard, Wash./South Kitsap HS) scored 18 points for the Falcons. Anderson (Burlington, Wash./Burlington-Edison HS) came off the bench to compile 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-5 accuracy from 3-point range.

Sophomore Andy Poling (Portland, Ore.), a 6-foot-11 transfer from Gonzaga, registered his fourth double-double. He scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Falcons' lopsided 45-20 advantage on the boards.

“Our team on some nights hasn't necessarily lived up to its potential this year so far, but rebounding is one area our guys have really grown,” Looney said. “We've talked a lot about valuing the importance of possessions on both ends of the floor and our way of doing that is rebounding.”

SPU shot 55 percent as a team (29 of 53), while limiting the Nanooks to 38 percent (19 of 50).

Jarrett Miller paced UAF with 19 points and Parrish West added 16, 10 of them from the free throw line. West was held 10 below his conference-high 26.6-point average and had just four first-half points.

The Falcons were swept on their two-game trip to Alaska last season, including a 113-105 overtime setback at Fairbanks.

“We won the league last year and we didn't come up here and win,” Looney recalled. “Tonight we won convincingly.”

The Falcons remain on the road to clash with league-leading Alaska Anchorage on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Pacific Time. The Seawolves (11-3) are 3-0 in GNAC play and bring a 10-game winning streak into their home game against SPU.


NCAA Men's Basketball
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Patty Center/Fairbanks, Alaska

SEATTLE PACIFIC 84, ALASKA FAIRBANKS 61

SEATTLE PACIFIC (8-3, 2-1 GNAC)
Banchero 3-6 0-0 6, J. Downs 7-13 8-9 25, Poling 4-7 2-7 10, Sweet 7-11 3-3 18, Morse 0-1 0-0 0, D. Downs 0-1 2-2 2, Carel 2-2 1-4 5, Dorman 0-1 1-2 1, Moll 0-1 0-0 0, Anderson 6-7 0-0 16, Niang 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 29-53 18-29 84.

ALASKA FAIRBANKS (3-7, 0-3 GNAC)
Miller 8-13 2-2 19, West 3-12 10-12 16, Barkman 1-7 1-2 3, Kohring 3-8 6-8 12, Edwards 3-6 0-1 6, King 0-0 0-0 0, Lavern 1-3 3-4 5, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Growden 0-0 0-0 0, Shotwell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 22-29 61.

Halftime – SPU 42, UAF 28.

3-point goals--SPU 8-19 (Anderson 4-5, J. Downs 3-8, Sweet 1-1, Banchero 0-1, D. Downs 0-1, Dorman 0-1, Moll 0-1, Morse 0-1), UAF 1-12 (Miller 1-4, Lavern 0-2, Smith 0-1, West 0-3, Edwards 0-2). Fouled out—SPU none, UAF none. Rebounds—SPU 46 (Poling 10), UAF 20 (Edwards 5). Assists—SPU 14 (D. Downs, Anderson 3), UAF 5 (Edwards 3). Total fouls—SPU 21, UAF 22. Technical fouls—SPU none, UAF bench, Edwards.