• Final Stats   |    • VIDEO: Coach Ryan  Looney

SEATTLE – Scott Morse earned extra minutes because of his defensive prowess. He parlayed the additional court time into his finest scoring performance.

Morse matched his career-high with 14 points Thursday and helped hold the league's leading scorer 12 points below his average as 19th-ranked Seattle Pacific beat Simon Fraser 68-57 in men's basketball. The Brougham Pavilion matchup marked the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

A sophomore wing from Central Point, Ore., Morse guarded the Clan's Javari Williams, who entered the game averaging 26.2 points. After a 10-point first half, Williams scored just four in the second while shooting 1-for-11 from the field.

Morse made 5 of 6 shots and and led a 47-35 rebounding advantage with seven boards. His 31 minutes were more than double the amount he played in any other game this season as his previous high was 14.

"Scott Morse did a nice job all night. He played more minutes for us tonight than he has all year and it's largely in part because of what he did in that matchup," SPU coach Ryan Looney said of the defensive assignment against Williams.

"But our focus wasn't necessarily guarding him individually, but doing a nice job collectively as a group. Other guys plugged the gaps a little bit on him and we did a good job not letting him get deep post touches too."



The Falcons (6-1) led by as many as nine points on four occasions in the second half before Simon Fraser drew within 54-50 on a free throw by Williams with 3:59 left to play.

SPU got consecutive baskets by Jobi Wall, on a 3-pointer and back-door layup, to start a streak of nine straight points that provided a 63-50 advantage with 1:27 remaining.

The Clan (4-3) stopped the run with a 3-pointer by John Bantock at 0:50 to make it 63-53, but they never got closer as SPU converted 5 of 6 free throws inside the final minute.

Wall (Arvada, Colo.) tallied 12 of his team-high 19 points during the second half.

"We were struggling a little bit offensively and Jobi hit some big shots in that game when we needed them," Looney said.

"I also thought Scott Morse gave us a spark on offense too. Andy Poling really struggled. We're lucky that Scott gave us 14 points on a night where we would normally have gotten that from Andy."

Poling (Portland, Ore.) entered as SPU's leader with 15.5 points per game. He produced nine against the Clan, but seven of those came from the free throw line.

Sophomore point guard David Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS), who was limited to three first-half minutes due to foul trouble, scored all of his 11 points after halftime.

Simon Fraser was led by the 19 points of Justin Brown, who could have had more, but converted just 8 of 14 free throws.

The teams each finished the game with 24 fouls and combined for 33 in the second half. SPU made 25 of 38 free throws and the Clan countered with a 17-of-29 effort from the line.

"Because of all the fouls in the game it was hard to get any type of flow on offense and difficult to continue to communicate to our guys to play hard. Everybody was in foul trouble, not just Dave," said Looney, whose team had a quartet of players with four fouls by game's end.

"It was an ugly game. Probably a lot of different things contributed to that. We just feel fortunate that we got out with a conference win."

In the first half, the Clan stormed out to an 8-2 lead, hitting four of their first six shots. SPU scored the next nine points, the final six coming from Morse, to claim its first lead of the game at 11-8.

The tight opening period saw five lead changes and four ties. The final lead change occurred 43 seconds before halftime when Corey Hutsen's layup forged a 25-24 lead the Falcons would carry into the second half.

Seattle Pacific remains at home to host Western Washington on Saturday at 7 p.m.

"We'll definitely be motivated for that game. Our guys know how important that one is and how good their team is too," Looney said. "We'll get a day tomorrow to prepare for what we know will be a tough in-conference game."


NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

at (#19) Seattle Pacific 68, Simon Fraser 57

SIMON FRASER (4-3, 0-1 GNAC)
Williams 6-20 2-6 14, Frehlick 0-1 0-0 0, Appiah 1-4 2-2 4, Raivio 3-8 0-0 7, Brown 5-12 8-14 19, Deflorimonte 1-4 0-0 2, Bantock 1-2 1-3 4, Sergent 1-1 4-4 7, Lewis 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-54 17-29 57.

SEATTLE PACIFIC  (6-1, 1-0 GNAC)
Wall 4-9 9-10 19, Anderson 1-4 0-0 2, Poling 1-10 7-11 9, Downs 2-4 5-6 11, Dorman 2-7 0-0 5, Stockton 1-3 0-3 3, Carel 0-1 0-0 0, Moll 0-2 1-2 1, Morse 5-6 3-6 14, Hutsen 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 18-52 25-38 68.

Simon Fraser............   24   33  -  57
Seattle Pacific.........   25   43  -  68

3-point goals--Simon Fraser 4-17 (Bantock 1-2; Raivio 1-4; Brown 1-4; Sergent 1-1; Lewis 0-2; Frehlick 0-1; Appiah 0-1; Williams 0-2), Seattle Pacific 7-20 (Wall 2-5; Downs 2-4; Dorman 1-4; Morse 1-1; Stockton 1-2; Carel 0-1; Moll 0-1; Anderson 0-2). Fouled out--Simon Fraser-Frehlick; Appiah, Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds--Simon Fraser 35 (Williams 12), Seattle Pacific 47 (Wall 7; Morse 7). Assists--Simon Fraser 6 (Brown 3), Seattle Pacific 10 (Dorman 4). Total fouls--Simon Fraser 24, Seattle Pacific 24. Technical fouls--Simon Fraser-Williams , Seattle Pacific-None. A-309.


Next game
Western Washington at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Dec. 3, 7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wash.