• Final Stats

ST. GEORGE, Utah – David Downs amassed 24 of his career-high 26 points during the second half Saturday, helping the 22nd-ranked Seattle Pacific men rally for a 67-55 basketball win over Colorado Mesa in the championship game of the Dixie State Classic.

SPU (2-0) defeated host Dixie State 58-42 in Friday's opening-round game at Burns Arena. The Mavericks (1-1) were 67-51 first-round victors over Minot State 67-51.

The Falcons trailed 25-18 at halftime after shooting 25 percent (6 of 24) from the field and just 1-of-9 from 3-point range. They went without a field goal for a span of 7:47 midway through the period.

Early in the second half, the Falcons got four straight baskets on 3-pointers, two of them from Downs. They took the lead four good at 41-37 on a trey by freshman Riley Stockton with 12:25 left to play.

Downs, a product of Bellevue Christian High School, scored 12 straight SPU points and accounted for 14 of his team's final 18 points. The sophomore point guard converted 13 of 14 free throws, shot 5 of 6 from the field and made 3 of 4 treys.

“David Downs laid an egg in the first half. He wasn't ready to play so we benched him in the second part of the first half,” explained Looney. “David came out in the second half and was the best player on the floor. We just challenged him at halftime to be better, and he was.”

The phenomenal second-half performance, along with an eight-point, five-assist effort on Friday, led to Downs being named the Most Valuable Player of the Dixie State Classic. He was joined on the all-tournament team by junior teammate Andy Poling, who registered a double-double with 20 points and 12 points against Mesa.

The Falcons shot 39 percent in the second half (9 of 23), including 5 of 9 behind the arc.

Colton Burgon was the lone Maverick in double figures with 15 points.

An SPU scoring drought midway through the first half enabled the Mavericks to claim a 15-4 lead. After a jumper by Downs with 14:27 left in the half cut the deficit to 4-3, the Falcons did not make another field goal until 6:40 showed on the clock. They missed nine shots and turned the ball over five times before Jobi Wall made a layup.

“I've been trying to preach to our team for two years and two games now that you've got to be good in all the little areas to carry yourselves on the nights where you're not shooting it that well,” said Looney. “To be honest we didn't shoot it well in this whole entire tournament, but we're still able to get out of here with two double-digit wins and get back home with a 2-0 record.”

Four different players scored in an SPU run of eight straight points to trim the CMU margin to 16-14. Mesa closed the half with a 9-4 surge, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Landon Vermeer, to take a 25-18 halftime advantage.

The SPU men return home to host the Sodexo GNAC/PacWest Challenge next weekend. They play Hawaii Pacific on Friday and No. 3 BYU-Hawaii on Saturday. Both games tip off at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.

 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Burns Arena/St. George, Utah
 
(#22) Seattle Pacific 67, Colorado Mesa 55
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC  (2-0)
Wall 1-7 2-2 4; Anderson 1-5 0-0 3; Poling 5-16 10-14 20; Downs 5-7 13-14 26; Dorman 2-3 2-2 7; Stockton 1-3 0-0 3; Hutsen 0-0 2-2 2; Niang 0-2 1-2 1; Carel 0-2 1-2 1; Morse 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-47 31-38 67.
 
COLORADO MESA (1-1)
Bear 3-7 1-1 8; Ch. Burgon 1-6 2-3 4; Hart 0-3 1-2 1; Screen 1-2 0-0 2; Melillo 1-5 1-2 3; Vermeer 4-6 0-0 9; King 3-4 1-2 7; Estes 1-3 2-2 4; Co. Burgon 4-6 7-12 15; Francom 1-1 0-0 2; Nelson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-44 15-24 55.
 
Colorado Mesa...........   25   30  -   55
Seattle Pacific.........   18   49  -   67
 
3-point goals--Colorado Mesa 2-11 (Vermeer 1-2; Bear 1-3; Estes 0-2; Melillo 0-1; Hart 0-2; Nelson 0-1), Seattle Pacific 6-18 (Downs 3-4; Dorman 1-2; Anderson 1-3; Stockton 1-2; Carel 0-2; Morse 0-1; Wall 0-4). Fouled out--Colorado Mesa-Bear; Ch. Burgon, Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds--Colorado Mesa 37 (Co. Burgon 8), Seattle Pacific 28 (Poling 12). Assists--Colorado Mesa 9 (King 2; Estes 2; Hart 2), Seattle Pacific 10 (Wall 4). Total fouls--Colorado Mesa 27, Seattle Pacific 21. Technical fouls--Colorado Mesa-Michael Bear, Seattle Pacific-None. A-174.
 
 
Next game
Sodexo GNAC/PacWest Challenge
Hawaii Pacific at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 18, Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wash.