• Box score, play-by-play
     • VIDEO: Cory Hutsen

SEATTLE – It was tale of two halves. Fortunately, the Falcons fantastic first period was enough to overcome SPU's sluggish second session.
 
Patrick Simon pumped in 19 points on Monday night, and Jobi Wall added 17 as No. 9-ranked Seattle Pacific got off to a fast start and beat NAIA national power Warner Pacific in a non-conference men's basketball game in Brougham Pavilion, 75-66.
 
The NCAA Division II Falcons (9-1) scored the first 15 points of the game, then saw Warner Pacific (9-4), ranked No. 14 in the NAIA, match that with a 15-0 run to start the second half. That cut what had been a 23-point SPU lead to just 50-44 with 14:47 still to play.
 
But Seattle Pacific never let it get any tighter than that. Up 56-50, the Falcons ran off seven in a row to push it back into double-digits, and it stayed there until a 3-pointer at the buzzer produced the final nine-point margin.
 
“We were very, very good and exceptionally efficient on offense in the first half,” Coach Ryan Looney said of his Falcons, who shot 56 percent (20 of 36) in the opening period, including 8-for-15 accuracy on 3-pointers.
 
“And no disrespect to Warner Pacific because I thought they had an inspired effort out of halftime. But we played completely disinterested for a half. We settled for too many jumpers and they weren't going down. Then we had a stretch where we turned it over way too much.”
 
After intermission, the Falcons missed their first eight shots and committed five turnovers before David Downs hit a jumper at 14:07 for their initial points. SPU shot 38 percent (11 of 29) after halftime to finish at 48 percent (31 of 65) for the game.
 


Junior forward Simon (Ephrata, Wash./Ephrata HS) also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds as the Falcons once again dominated the boards, 48-31. SPU has out-rebounded all 10 of its opponents this season by an average of nearly 12 a game, a margin that ranks ninth nationally. Senior forward Wall (Arvada, Colo.) grabbed eight boards.
 
Sophomore center Cory Hutsen (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) chipped in 12 points for SPU, and junior guard Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) had 10.
 
Sophomore guard Riley Stockton (Spokane, Wash./Ferris HS) nearly produced a triple-double with eight points, nine rebounds and a career-high nine assists. That eclipsed his previous best of eight assists, which he had twice, most recently on Nov. 23 against San Francisco State.
 
Looney appreciated the play on offense, but was particularly pleased with Stockton's performance on the other end of the floor.
 
“Something that doesn't show up in the boxscore is that we put him on (Stephen) Harris, who has been a great player all year for Warner Pac. Riley did a nice job on him.”
 
Harris, who came in averaging a double-double of 17.7 points and 11.1 rebounds, had 12 and nine, respectively. He was limited to 4-of-10 shooting from the floor.
 
Coletun Tarr topped the Knights with 12 points.
 
The Falcons were credited with assists on 27 of their 31 field goals.  For the season, they have assists on 200 of their 262 baskets (76.3 percent).
 
Seattle Pacific hit five of its first nine shots and forced the WPC into missing its first five on the way to a 15-0 lead. The margin grew to 42-19 late in the half and was 50-29 at the intermission.
 
But at the start of the second half, SPU missed its first eight attempts while the Knights drained their first six, half of those from downtown, to trim the margin to six.
 
Monday marked the final non-conference game for the Falcons, who finished with a 7-1 record outside of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
Looney was happy with his team's results against outside competition.
 
“We played a stretch of a lot of games on the road in the month of November and to win as many as we did was great. At the end of the year, when we look back, we'll look at that as an important part of the year.”
 
The Seattle Pacific men are 2-0 in league play after a road sweep of the Alaska schools earlier this month. They turn their attention full-time to GNAC opponents, beginning on Thursday, Jan. 3 against defending national champion and sixth-ranked Western Washington. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion for the clash of top-10 teams.
 
That is a rematch of the 2012 NCAA West Regional championship game in Bellingham, Wash. that the Vikings won 56-50.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Monday, December 17, 2012
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
(No. 9) Seattle Pacific 75, Warner Pacific 66
 
WARNER PACIFIC (9-4)
Compton 2-5 2-2 6, Tarr 6-14 2-3 15, Harris 4-10 4-6 12, Jones 1-5 0-0 2, Black 0-4 0-0 0, Moore 2-3 0-0 5, Strasburg 2-8 0-0 4, Thomas 4-8 0-0 10, Herrejon 1-1 0-0 3, Parks 2-6 3-3 9. Totals 24-65 11-14 66.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (9-1)
Wall 7-14 0-0 17, Simon 8-15 2-2 19, Hutsen 6-8 0-6 12, Downs 4-7 0-0 10, Stockton 2-7 2-2 8, Carroll 0-1 0-0 0, Todd 0-0 0-0 0, Poling 2-6 0-0 4, Weber-Brader 1-3 1-2 3, Reid 1-3 0-0 2, Morse 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-65 5-12 75.
 
Warner Pacific     29     37     -- 66
Seattle Pacific     50      25     -- 75
 
3-point goals – WPU 7-23 (Tarr 1-3, Jones 0-1, Black 0-3, Moore 1-2, Strasburg 0-2, Thomas 2-5, Herrejon 1-1, Parks 2-6), SPU 8-29 (Wall 3-8, Simon 1-4, Downs 2-5, Stockton 2-7, Carroll 0-1 Weber-Brader 0-2, Reid 0-2). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – WPU 31 (Harris 9), SPU 48 (Simon 9, Stockton 9). Assists – WPU 14 (Harris 6), SPU 27 (Stockton 9). Turnovers – WPU 12, SPU 17. Total fouls – WPU 15, SPU 14. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 263.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 9-1, 2-0 GNAC. Warner Pacific 9-4.
 
Next game – Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, Thursday Jan. 3, 7:00 p.m.