• Boxscore & Play-by-Play
 
LAIE, Hawaii – Patrick Simon tallied a game-high 16 points Friday, including two 3-pointers that sparked a 16-point spree by ninth-ranked Seattle Pacific during a 73-53 victory over Hawaii Pacific in the opening game of the GNAC/PacWest Challenge men's basketball tournament.
 
The Falcons (3-0) rallied from an early eight-point deficit to take control midway through the first half.
 
They trailed 20-13 when David Downs hit a 3-pointer at the 10:01 mark to ignite the run of 16 consecutive points. Simon followed with back-to-back treys and SPU got consecutive baskets by Jobi Wall and Cory Hutsen.
 
When Riley Stockton drained a 3-pointer with 6:12 left in the first half, the Falcons were ahead 29-20. They owned a 34-28 halftime advantage and the final 20-point spread was the game's largest.
 
A 6-foot-8 junior forward, Simon (Ephrata, Wash./Ephrata HS) transferred from Washington State prior to this season. He made 5 of 8 shots from the field, including 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point range.
 
Before ever donning a Falcons uniform, Simon was voted to the preseason All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference team by the league's coaches. SPU coach Ryan Looney says that honor is deserved while describing the type of impact Simon has already had on the team.
 
“It's been huge. He makes our system on offense work perfectly because of how he can stretch the floor from that position. We not only get production from him, but it also creates opportunities for his teammates too.”
 
SPU made 10 of 20 treys and shot 52 percent (22 of 42) overall from the field on Friday.
 
Wall finished with 15 points for the Falcons, who also got 13 from Stockton, 12 from Downs and 10 from Andy Poling. Stockton grabbed nine rebounds to help his team dominate the boards by a 33-20 count.
 
The Sea Warriors (0-1) made five of their first six shots to open an 11-3 lead. That figure continued to sizzle at 9 for 11 from the floor when Malte Ziegenhagen's 3-pointer provided a 20-13 margin with 10:29 left in the first half. But HPU would not score again for nearly five minutes, until Ziegenhagen made a layup at 5:36.
 
“We were discouraged early with our effort defensively. We got ourselves in a little bit of a hole early in the game,” Looney said. “Once we got to that first media timeout we had a chance to talk about it and our approach defensively changed a little bit.
 
“We started to get defensive stops and that led to some easy baskets for us.”
 
Ziegenhagen scored 15 points to lead the Sea Warriors and Jeffery Neal added 11 points.
 
The Falcons complete the tournament late Saturday night with a 9:30 p.m. Pacific Time game against host BYU-Hawaii. That will be played at the same Cannon Activities Center venue as Friday's game.

 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Friday, Nov. 16, 2012
Cannon Activities Center/Laie, Hi.
 
(#9) Seattle Pacific 73, Hawaii Pacific 53
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (3-0)
Wall 5-8 2-3 15, Simon 5-8 2-2 16, Poling 3-4 4-5 10, Downs 4-7 3-4 12, Stockton 3-5 5-6 13, Jordan 0-0 0-0 0, Carroll 0-1 0-0 0 Todd 0-0 0-0 0, Weber-Brader 0-0 2-2 2, Penner 0-0 0-0 0, Morse 0-2 0-0 0, Hutsen 2-7 1-4 5. Totals 22-42 19-26 73.
 
HAWAII PACIFIC (0-1)
Neal 4-6 3-5 11, White 4-7 0-0 9, Rodney 1-3 2-2 4, Ziegenhagen 4-12 4-5 15, Attila 1-5 0-0 3, Pierce 0-1 0-0 0, Lyons 1-1 0-0 3, Livingston 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan 1-2 0-0 2, Milligan 0-1 0-1 0, Cukic 3-6 0-0 6, Farman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-45 9-13 53.
 
Seattle Pacific........   34   39  -  73
Hawaii Pacific.........   28   25  -  53
 
3-point goals--SPU 10-20 (Simon 4-6, Wall 3-6, Stockton 2-2, Downs 1-4, Carrol 0-1, Morse 0-1), HPU 6-18 (Ziegenhagen 3-8, White 1-1, Lyons 1-1, Attila 1-5, Neal 0-1, Jordan 0-1, Milligan 0-1). Fouled out--SPU-None, HPU-None. Rebounds--SPU 33 (Stockton 9), HPU 20 (White, Neal, Rodney 4). Assists--SPU 18 (Wall 6), HPU 14 (White 5). Total fouls--SPU 17, HPU 20. Technical fouls--SPU-None, HPU-None. A-102.
 
 
Next men's basketball game
Seattle Pacific at BYU-Hawaii
Saturday, Nov. 17, 9:30 p.m. PST
Cannon Activities Center/Laie, Hi.