• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

SEATTLE – Parrish West will be happy not to have to face Seattle Pacific again.

Andy Poling and Jeff Downs combined for 44 points and the SPU men stopped the 30-point scoring streak of the nation's leading scorer Saturday en route to an 87-74 Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball victory over Alaska Fairbanks at Brougham Pavilion.

West had his streak of seven straight 30-point performances halted. He entered the game with a 28.9-point scoring average, the leading figure among NCAA Division II players.

The 6-foot-5 senior forward finished with 21 points, but took a lot of shots to get there. Normally a 53-percent shooter, West made just 6 of 25 attempts from the floor and converted 6 of 10 free throws.

"We guarded him with five guys not just one," described SPU coach Ryan Looney.

"We put Jeff Downs on him, who has done an unbelievable job in this eight-game stretch for us on the other team's best perimeter player. But in all reality we focused a lot on making sure we had people in help, especially in transition, kid of corralling the ball."

The Falcons limited West to only 16 points and 3-for-12 shooting in the first meeting, an 84-61 win on Feb. 6 in Fairbanks.

In two games versus SPU, West averaged 18.5 points on 24 percent shooting (9 of 37). In 10 games against the rest of the GNAC, West scored at a 30.8-point clip while shooting 55 percent (107 of 195).



The Falcons (16-5) extended their wining streak to a season-best eight games. They improved to 10-3 in conference games to retain their second-place standing going into a showdown Wednesday at first-place Central Washington. That game in Ellensburg will be televised live at 7 p.m. on FSN Northwest.

Looney downplayed Wednesday's clash of the league's top-two teams.

"With the group that we have and how young that we are, we're taking it one game at a time. Regardless of whether it's Alaska Fairbanks tonight at home or Central Washington on the road, we're going to prepare to the best of our ability. We're going to go in there and try to fight."

Poling (Portland, Ore.) netted the Falcons' first four points on the way to a career-high 23-point performance. He sparked SPU's 56-percent (29 of 52) shooting effort with 10-of-12 accuracy from the field, primarily on shots inside the lane.

Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) did most of his damage from long distance. He hit 5 of 10 trey attempts, finishing with 21 points.

Ryan Sweet (Port Orchard, Wash./South Kitsap HS) chipped in 15 points for SPU. He also grabbed nine boards to fuel a 41-29 rebounding advantage.

Brett Barkman scored 12 points for the Nanooks, who also got 11 from Jarrett Miller. Fairbanks (7-12) dropped to 4-8 in GNAC play.



The Falcons jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead, getting six points apiece from Poling and Downs. UAF's Aaron Kohring scored the game's first points on a short banker 19 seconds into the contest.

SPU tallied the next 12 points, starting with consecutive hook shots from Poling and then back-to-back 3-pointers from Downs. Poling capped the run on a pair of free throws with 16:48 left in the first half.

That margin grew to as many as 15 points in the first half, helped by a late 10-1 run, before SPU settled on a 42-30 halftime advantage that would not be relinquished. The Falcons pushed the lead to as many as 18 points in the second half.

West was limited to six first-half points on 1-of-11 shooting from the field. He was scoreless for the opening 9:34 before converting two free throws. West missed his first six shots until a short jumper in the key fell with 8:11 on the clock for his only first-half basket.

SPU was credited with 22 assists on its 29 baskets, including a career-high 10 from freshman point guard David Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS).

Before Saturday's game a quartet of SPU seniors was honored with a brief ceremony. It was the final regular-season home playing appearance for Jeff Downs, Grant Hope and Ryan Sweet.

The Falcons also honored 2010 All-American and GNAC Player of the Year Chris Banchero, a senior who suffered a season-ending injury at Fairbanks on Jan. 6. He received a long, standing ovation from the Brougham Pavilion crowd.

"He has so much passion and love for the game of basketball. The recognition that he got tonight shows that," said Looney, who appreciated the contributions of all four SPU seniors.

"Those guys have done a lot for our program in a number of different ways. To be able to honor them here at home was pretty special."

The Falcons play their final five regular-season games on the road.



NCAA Men's Basketball
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 87, ALASKA FAIRBANKS 74

ALASKA FAIRBANKS (7-12, 4-8 GNAC)
West 6-25 6-10 21, Barkman 5-9 2-2 12, Miller 3-3 5-5 11, King 4-9 0-0 9, Daniel 2-4 2-2 8, Kohring 4-7 0-0 8, Matthews 1-2 3-4 5, Shotwell 0-1 0-0 0, Growden 0-0 0-0 0, Lavern 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 18-23 74.

SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-5, 10-3 GNAC)
Poling 10-12 3-6 23, J. Downs 7-14 2-2 21, Sweet 3-5 9-11 15, D. Downs 3-8 1-2 9, Niang 3-3 2-7 8, Morse 1-3 4-4 6, Carel 1-2 0-2 2, Moll 1-4 0-0 2, Dorman 0-1 1-2 1, Hope 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-52 22-36 87.

Halftime – SPU 42, UAF 30.

3-point goals--UAF 6-16 (West 3-9, Daniel 2-3, King 1-3, Shotwell 0-1), SPU 7-21 (J. Downs 5-10, D. Downs 2-6, Morse 0-2, Carel 0-1, Dorman 0-1, Sweet 0-1). Fouled out--UAF-King, SPU-None. Rebounds--UAF 29 (West 7), SPU 41 (Sweet 9). Assists--UAF 11 (West 6), SPU 22 (D. Downs 10). Total fouls--UAF 25, SPU 19. Technical fouls--UAF-None, SPU-None. A-536.