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ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- The Downs brothers took their game to new heights Friday.

Jeff Downs scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half as eighth-seeded Seattle Pacific surged ahead early en route to a 76-63 upset of fifth-ranked Central Washington in the first round of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament at Nicholson Pavilion.

“I'm extremely proud of our guys. We fought through a ton of adversity this year with injuries, and now we're in the final 32,” SPU coach Ryan Looney exclaimed. “Everybody out there counted our guys out, except themselves.”

The Falcons (20-9) advance to the regional semifinal to play No. 4 seed Dixie State (21-6) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Red Storm won this season's first meeting, defeating SPU 68-61 on Nov. 20 in Seattle.

Host Central Washington (26-4) was the top seed for the Western Regional playoffs that saw the top three seeds all go down. Saturday's other semifinal features a 5 p.m. clash between No. 6 seed Alaska Anchorage and No. 7 BYU-Hawaii.

Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) was limited to fewer than 12 points in each of the two previous meetings with CWU, both regular-season wins by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Wildcats.

On Friday the senior wing combined for 42 points with his brother, freshman point guard David Downs. David's career-high 22 points came on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range.

“I just played with confidence,” said David Downs, whose previous high scoring game was 14 points. “It was in the flow of the game, I don't think I tried doing anything too special. I was just open and got good shots.”

Jeff Downs fueled a 13-point run midway through the first half that put SPU in control. The surge stretched the Falcons small 14-13 lead to 27-13. Ryan Sweet capped the run on a dunk with 6:16 on the clock.

During the SPU surge, the Wildcats went scoreless for over six minutes, missing six straight shots and committing three turnovers in that span. Jody Johnson ended the drought on a 12-foot jump shot with 5:43 left in the first half, giving CWU its first points since the 11:58 mark.

“We dug ourselves a hole in the first half and then battled back,” said Central coach Greg Sparling. “We just couldn't get over the hump.”

Jeff Downs scored the final five points of the opening period to provide SPU with a 40-25 halftime advantage. He made a 3-pointer from the corner with 14 seconds remaining and then received a long pass from his brother for a layup at the buzzer that was goal-tended by Philipp Lieser.

“The end of the half was pretty neat, just getting that open three in the corner and then that perfect pass from Dave to end the half,” said Jeff Downs, who credited teammates for his 14-point half.

“Our team just did a really good job of handling the pressure, which we haven't historically against Central. It was just a matter of our team being able to break the press and then people finding me.”

Ryan Sweet scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help SPU win the board battle 38-31. Modou Niang tied his career high with 11 points.

Jamar Berry scored 16 points to pace CWU, which also got 12 from Chris Scott and 10 from Johnson. The Wildcats were limited to 39-percent shooting (24 of 61) and made just 7 of 31 treys.

The Falcons countered with 46-percent accuracy (21 of 46), making 9 of their 18 shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

David Downs opened the second half with a 3-pointer that put SPU in front 43-25. The Wildcats responded by scoring the next nine points to draw within 43-34 with 17:02 left to play.

Sweet halted the rally with a rebound and put back of his own miss at 15:52 and Central never drew closer than five the rest of the way.

FALCONS NOT FAZED BY CWU PRESSURE

The game was a physical affair as CWU defenders pestered and trapped Falcons ball handlers all night.

The Wildcats were whistled for 30 fouls to just 15 for SPU, which sat back in a zone most of the night. The differing defensive styles, and resulting foul disparity, enabled the Falcons to register a 17-point scoring edge from the line. They converted 25 of 37 free throws and Central made 8 of 10.

“It was definitely physical out there. We came prepared for it,” said Sweet (Port Orchard, Wash./South Kitsap HS), an SPU senior. “We knew that Central was the most physical team in our league. Coach talked about it every day in practice, how every time we came out and played them this year they punched us first. That was the key to our victory, that we came out and didn't let them pin us against the wall.”

Looney agreed with Sweet's assessment.

“Toughness was a huge thing for us. We wanted to be the one that, for lack of a better term, threw the first punch. I thought we did tonight and I don't know that other people have been able to do that to them this year.”

The victory was the first in Ellensburg for the Falcons since 2006, stopping a five-game losing skid. They beat Central for just the third time in the last 12 meetings.

The SPU men are participating in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight season. They won their opening round game for the 17th time in 22 all-time playoff appearances.

In the other West Region games, Dixie State defeated fifth seed Chaminade 92-81, No. 6 Alaska-Anchorage upended No. 3 Humboldt State 76-70 and No. 7 BYU-Hawaii beat No. 2 Cal State Dominguez Hills 83-75.

The regional final is at 7 p.m. Monday at Nicholson Pavilion in Ellensburg.


NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT  – 1st round
Friday, March 11, 2011
Nicholson Pavilion/Ellensburg, Wash.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 76, CENTRAL WASHINGTON 63

SEATTLE PACIFIC (20-9)
Sweet 4-8 4-5 13, Morse 1-5 0-0 2, Poling 2-5 1-5 5, D. Downs 6-8 5-7 22, J. Downs 4-11 10-11 20, Niang 3-5 5-7 11, Carel 1-3 0-0 3, Moll 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 21-46 25-37 76.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON (26-4)
Berry 4-10 4-4 16, Clyde 2-2 0-0 4, Sprinker 2-3 2-3 6, Perez 2-9 0-0 4, Harris 3-7 0-0 7, Scott 4-16 2-2 12, Johnson 5-10 0-1 10, Gibler 2-4 0-0 4, Lieser 0-0 0-0 0, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 8-10 63.

Halftime—SPU 40-25.

3-point goals--SPU 9-18 (D. Downs 5-7, J. Downs 2-5, Carel 1-2, Sweet 1-2, Morse 0-2), CWU 7-31 (Berry 4-9, Scott 2-10, Harris 1-4, Perez 0-6, Sprinker 0-1, Johnson 0-1). Fouled out--SPU-None, CWU-Johnson. Rebounds--SPU 38 (Sweet 8), CWU 31 (Sprinker 10). Assists--SPU 13 (D. Downs, Poling, Carel 3), CWU 11 (Harris 5). Total fouls--SPU 15, CWU 30. Technical fouls--SPU-None, CWU-Perez. Att—2,519.