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ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The season ended a lot later than many skeptics projected. But on Saturday, while senior Jeff Downs' layup banked through the basket, the final buzzer finally sounded on Seattle Pacific's 2011 campaign.

Donovan Plunkett converted six free throws inside the final 26 seconds, sealing fourth-seeded Dixie State's 75-73 win over No. 8 SPU in the West Region semifinals of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament at Nicholson Pavilion.

“I'm proud of my team this year. We faced a ton of adversity to the point where we had pretty important players hurt,” SPU coach Ryan Looney said of January injuries to returning starters Chris Banchero, the 2010 West Region Player of the Year, and Jake Anderson. “After those injuries, I can't tell you how many people called, emailed and texted me thoughts that our season was over and that we would never even get to this point.

“These guys fought the whole entire time. We were counted out by a lot of people out there, so for us to get into the NCAA Tournament again this year, to be able to beat the host institution on opening night was remarkable and our guys didn't go down easy tonight.”

The Falcons completed their season with a 20-10 record. They upset fifth-ranked Central Washington, the region's No. 1 seed, 76-63 in Friday's opening-round tournament game to reach the semifinals.

The Red Storm (22-6) advance to the regional championship to play No. 7 seed BYU-Hawaii (19-8) on Monday at 7 p.m. in Ellensburg.

SPU battled to the bitter end, led by Downs who scored seven points during the final 14.7 seconds. After two Plunkett free throws with 25.6 seconds left to play, Downs made a trey at 0:14.7 to draw SPU within 71-69.

Plunkett extended the lead with two free throws at 10.3 and then nailed another pair with 9.5 seconds remaining after Downs converted two free throws.

Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) made a layup at the buzzer to set the final score at 75-73. He scored 20 points to increase his career total to 1,079, a figure that ranks No. 19 among all-time SPU scorers.

His brother, freshman point guard David Downs, also tallied 20 points on 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. David hit 5 of 7 treys in Friday's triumph over Central Washington and combined for 42 points in the two playoff games.

Tom Whitehead led the Red Storm with 17 points and Plunkett finished with 16. They made it a two-game season sweep of SPU, including a 68-61 win on Nov. 20 in Seattle.

Dixie led by as many as 14 points in the first half before the Falcons rallied early in the second half. They went on a 17-2 spree that was completed by six straight points by Andy Poling (Portland, Ore.), putting SPU in front 48-43 with 13:39 left to play. That was its first lead since 2-0.

The Red Storm answered with a 15-8 run to claim a 58-56 edge with 7:55 remaining and trailed just once more briefly, at 61-60 when SPU's Kellan Moll (Anchorage, Alaska) hit a 3-pointer with 5:47 to go.

Griffon Jones swished a jump shot with 5:11 to play to push Dixie into the lead for good and start a seven-point run that Whitehead capped on a 3-pointer with 2:46 remaining and his team in possession of a 67-61 margin.

The Falcons posted a 46 percent (24 of 52) to 35 percent (20 of 57) shooting superiority from the field, but were outscored by 15 points from the free throw line. Plunkett made all eight of his attempts, leading his team's 29-for-33 performance on charity shots.

In the first half, Ryan Sweet (Port Orchard, Wash./South Kitsap HS) completed a three-point play with a layup and free throw to bring SPU within 8-7 with 16:53 left in the first half. The Falcons had three turnovers, three missed shots and two missed free throws before they scored again at 12:43 when Modou Niang (Richard-Toll, Senegal) made the first of two free throws.

Dixie capitalized on the Falcons 4-minute, 10-second scoring drought, registering 10 straight points. Whitehead hit three of four free throws to start the surge and Jeremiah Barnes followed with a 3-pointer, 12-foot jumper and two free throws to give his team an 18-7 advantage.

The lead increased to 22-8 before David Downs ignited a nine-point SPU run with two 3-pointers and a free throw to draw within five points. That was the halftime margin as the Red Storm went into the locker room up 34-29.

The SPU men participated in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight season and the 22nd time overall.

Saturday marked the final game in an SPU uniform for seniors Jeff Downs, Grant Hope and Ryan Sweet. Also departing is Chris Banchero who leaves as the Falcons No. 8 all-time scorer with 1,327 career points.


NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
West Region Semifinal
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Nicholson Pavilion/Ellensburg, Wash.

DIXIE STATE 75, SEATTLE PACIFIC 73

Seattle Pacific (20-10)
Sweet 2-5 1-1 5, Morse 2-4 2-2 7, Poling 5-9 1-3 11, J. Downs 6-17 5-7 20, D. Downs 6-10 3-4 20, Moll 3-5 0-0 8, Niang 0-2 2-4 2, Carel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-52 14-21 73.

Dixie State (22-6)
Whitehead 5-12 4-4 17, Jones 2-6 0-0 4, Jensen 4-4 3-4 11, Cole 0-5 0-0 0, Massey 2-6 0-0 4, Plunkett 3-9 8-8 16, Adams 0-3 9-10 9, Barnes 3-5 2-3 9, Araujo 1-5 3-3 5, Owen 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 20-57 29-33 75.

Halftime--DSC 34-29.

3-point goals--SPU 11-26 (D. Downs 5-6, J. Downs 3-13, Moll 2-4, Morse 1-2, Sweet 0-1), DSC 6-12 (Whitehead 3-6, Plunkett 2-4, Barnes 1-1, Adams 0-1). Fouled out--SPU-None, DSC-None. Rebounds--SPU 35 (Morse 9), DSC 40 (Adams 7). Assists--SPU 12 (D. Downs 5), DSC 17 (Barnes, Cole 4). Total fouls--SPU 23, DSC 19. Technical fouls--SPU-None, DSC-None. Att--304.