• Final Statistics
     • VIDEO: David Downs
 
SEATTLE – David Downs led all scorers with 23 points, including four free throws inside the final minute Saturday that helped Seattle Pacific complete its first season sweep in 10 years of Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball rival Central Washington with a 72-64 victory at Brougham Pavilion.

A sophomore point guard, Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) converted all 10 of his free throws attempts for the Falcons, who had a 27-15 scoring advantage from the line. Downs made 3 of 4 shots from 3-point range.

The Wildcats trailed for most of the game and were down 59-50 before a 10-5 run drew them within 64-60. Brandon Magee capped the surge on two free throws with 1:44 left to play.

SPU's Jobi Wall answered with a pair of free throws at 1:27 and Downs followed with two more that extended the margin to 68-60 with 55 seconds on the clock.

After a layup by Central's Lacy Haddock, Downs drove the length of the floor before feeding Andy Poling for a dunk and then clinched the outcome on two more charity shots for a 72-62 lead with 34 seconds remaining.



"I was really impressed with how our guys fought. It was a physical game," said SPU assistant coach Grant Leep. "We had a good seven-point lead at the half and Central, to their credit, they played really hard and battled back into it.

"Our guys showed some resiliency there and some toughness by continuing to fight and to rebound and do the things that we've been preaching at them all year."

Poling (Portland, Ore.) compiled his sixth double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He helped SPU to a 47-35 margin on the boards.

The third-place Falcons (19-5) improved to 11-4 in league play. They had a tougher time with CWU than they did in the first meeting, a 76-49 decision in Ellensburg on Jan. 12. SPU last swept a season series from Central in 2002.

The defending GNAC champion Wildcats (11-11) saw their conference record fall to 5-9.

Haddock scored 18 points to pace CWU, which also got 15 from Jody Johnson and 13 from Roby Clyde.

In the first half, the Wildcats claimed an early 6-5 lead before Wall drained a trey at the 16:44 mark and SPU never trailed the rest of the game.

The Falcons utilized a 10-2 run midway through the first half to go ahead 27-18 en route to a 38-31 halftime lead.

The SPU men close out their home schedule on Saturday, hosting Montana State Billings at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.

"Billings has been playing really well and they beat us over in Montana, so we need to come ready to go," said Leep.  The Yellowjackets were 86-77 victors on Jan. 21 in Billings.

"There are some similarities between the team that we just played tonight and Billings as far as getting out in transition and doing some things with a quick-strike type offense. There are things that we can carry over and hopefully we come ready to go next week."


NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

at Seattle Pacific 72, Central Washington 64

CENTRAL WASHINGTON (11-11, 5-9 GNAC)
Johnson 5-10 4-4 15, Coby 1-4 0-0 3, Clyde 5-11 3-4 13, Haddock 8-19 1-1 18, Tyler 1-9 0-0 2, Magee 1-5 6-9 8, Starr 1-1 0-0 2, Davis 1-3 0-0 2, Nelson 0-1 1-3 1, Lieser 0-1 0-0 0, Gross 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-64 15-21 64.

SEATTLE PACIFIC  (19-5, 11-4 GNAC)
Wall 1-7 4-4 7, Hutsen 2-6 2-8 6, Poling 6-10 8-11 20, Downs 5-10 10-10 23, Stockton 2-4 1-3 5, Niang 2-3 2-3 6, Anderson 1-2 0-0 3, Dorman 1-4 0-0 2, Morse 0-2 0-0 0, Carel 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 20-48 27-40 72.

Central Washington.......   31   33  -  64
Seattle Pacific..........   38   34  -  72

3-point goals--CWU 3-16 (Johnson 1-1, Coby 1-3, Haddock 1-4, Tyler 0-4, Magee 0-3, Clyde 0-1), SPU 5-16 (Downs 3-4, Anderson 1-2, Wall 1-5, Stockton 0-1, Dorman 0-2, Morse 0-2). Fouled out--CWU-Clyde, SPU-None. Rebounds--CWU 35 (Johnson 7), SPU 47 (Poling 10). Assists--CWU 6 (Tyler, Haddock 2), SPU 10 (Wall 4). Total fouls--CWU 29, SPU 19. Technical fouls--CWU-None, SPU-None. A-877.


Next Game
Montana State Billings at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Feb. 18, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.