• Boxscore & Play-by-Play
 
MOSCOW, Idaho – Exactly one year after the biggest exhibition-game triumph in school history, the Falcons found themselves in another NCAA Division I arena. They gave a game effort Saturday night, but were unable to replicate last season's stunning success.

Stephen Madison scored 22 of his 28 points during the first half for Idaho, which surged ahead early and held off a late rally by Division II Seattle Pacific for a 77-71 men's basketball exhibition win at Memorial Gym.

Despite the loss, SPU coach Ryan Looney said the experience of going against high-level competition will ultimately benefit his team.

“Any time we can play up a level – Division I from Division II – it will obviously help us,” Looney said. “I think we learned how hard we need to play, how important attention to detail is.”

The Falcons had won three of their previous four exhibition encounters against Division I opponents, including a 69-68 upset of Arizona on Oct. 27, 2011 in Tucson.

Madison made 7 of 8 first half shots to stake the Vandals to a 39-28 halftime advantage. They scored the first nine points of the second half to open the largest lead of the night at 48-28.

The Falcons gradually chipped away at the deficit. An 8-0 run got them within 12 points at 48-36 with 13:17 to play.

After Idaho built its lead back to 19, SPU answered with a 7-0 run to get back to a 12-point margin at 57-45 with 8:18 left in the game.

Idaho's lead dipped into single figures for the first time in the half at 5:53, when a pair of Andy Poling free throws made it 64-56.

The Falcons drew within five points at 70-65 with 1:08 left to play when David Downs made a 3-pointer and, after an Idaho turnover, made a layup on the next trip down the floor.

Madison answered with a three-point play at 0:56 after being fouled on a breakaway layup. That pushed the lead back to eight and repelled the Falcons rally.

SPU senior Jobi Wall registered a three-point play with five seconds remaining to set the final score.

Downs scored 22 points and shot 4 of 7 from 3-point range to lead SPU. Wall added 19 points and Poling had 12.

Antwan Scott contributed 14 points for Idaho, which also got 11 from Connor Hill.

The Vandals shot 48 percent (22 of 46) from the field, a figure that included 56-percent accuracy from 3-point range (10 of 18). They converted 23 of 28 free throws.

SPU finished shooting 35 percent (21 of 60) after struggling at 29 percent (8 of 28) during the opening half. They made 11 of 29 treys.

The Falcons made an impressive 18 out of 19 free throws and limited their turnovers, which Looney said was crucial in keeping them in the game until the end.

“We did a good job taking care of the ball and if you look at the boxscore, we only had seven turnovers to their 14,” Looney said. “So I think that allowed us to at least stay in it on a night where we weren't very good in some other important areas.”

One of those areas Looney singled out was rebounding, usually an SPU strength. Idaho won the board battle 36-26. The Falcons finished No. 3 nationally last season among Division II teams with a plus-10.1 rebound margin.

Looney also said the Falcons settled for too many outside shots.

“We need to play more unselfishly on offense and we need to be more balanced on offense. Tonight, we took way too many jump shots and didn't get enough post-up baskets.”

The Falcons outscored Idaho 15-12 in points-off-turnovers and 10-0 on second-chance baskets, but the Vandals had a 9-0 advantage in fastbreak points.

After falling behind 7-3 early, Poling scored consecutive baskets and Wall hit a 3-pointer to even the score 10-10. The Vandals tallied the next seven points to ignite a 13-3 run and take the lead for good.

The Falcons come home to Brougham Pavilion to host Pacific Lutheran on Friday at 7 p.m. That is their final exhibition before the regular season begins on Nov. 9-10 with the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic at SPU.
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012
Memorial Gym/Moscow, Idaho
 
at Idaho 77,  Seattle Pacific 71
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC
Wall 7-14 1-1 19, Simon 2-9 0-0 6, Poling 3-9 6-6 12, Downs 6-14 6-6 22, Stockton 1-4 0-0 2, Morse 1-2 0-0 3, Weber-Brader 0-2 2-2 2, Hutsen 1-5 0-0 2, Carroll 0-1 2-2 2, Todd 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 21-60 18-19 71.
 
IDAHO
Scott 4-7 2-2 14, Madison 8-12 10-12 28, Faines 2-6 3-4 7, Habeeb 1-1 0-0 2, McChristian 0-0 1-2 1, Hill 3-7 2-2 11, Kammerer 2-3 4-4 8, Borton 1-1 0-0 3, Bell 1-5 0-0 2, Harris 0-1 1-2 1, Egbert 0-2 0-0 0, Douglas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-46 23-28 77.
 
Seattle Pacific........   28   43  -  71
Idaho .................   39   38  -  77
 
3-point goals--SPU 11-29 (Wall 4-10, Downs 4-7, Simon 2-7, Morse 1-2, Carroll 0-1, Stockton 0-2), UI 10-18 (Scott 4-5, Hill 3-6, Madison 2-6, Borton 1-1). Fouled out--SPU-Poling, UI-Kammerer, Faines. Rebounds--SPU 26 (Simon 5), UI 36 (Bell 10). Assists--SPU 14 (Downs 4), UI 13 (Douglas 3, McChristian 3). Total fouls--SPU 25, UI 22. Technical fouls--SPU-None, UI-None. A-975.
 
 
Next men's basketball game
Pacific Lutheran at Seattle Pacific (exhibition)
Friday, Nov. 2, 7:00 p.m. PDT
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.