• Final Statistics
      • VIDEO: Modou Niang     |     • VIDEO: Senior Night Ceremony

SEATTLE – Seattle Pacific staged a stellar send-off for its seniors.

Sophomore David Downs scored six of his game-high 24 points inside the final two minutes Saturday as Seattle Pacific stormed ahead early and held off a late Montana State Billings rally for a 78-70 men's basketball victory at Brougham Pavilion.

The third-place Falcons (20-5) registered their sixth 20-win season in the last eight years and their 20th overall. They improved to 12-4 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play and avenged an 86-77 loss at Billings on Jan. 21.

MSUB (14-10) saw its league record drop to 9-7.



The Yellowjackets trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half. They cut the deficit to 62-61 with 4:13 left to play on back-to-back steals and fastbreak layups, by Robert Mayes and Antoine Proctor.

Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) answered with a layin to start a six-point SPU surge that extended the lead to seven points. Later, he nailed two free throws and followed with a 14-foot jump shot to forge a 72-64 advantage with 1:05 remaining.

"We talked all week in scouting that this team is as talented on offense as anybody we've played all year," said SPU coach Ryan Looney. "We knew Billings would make some runs, we just had to be able to withstand them."

The Falcons converted 6 of 8 free throws during the final 47 seconds, the final two from Downs, to secure the win.

Andy Poling scored 17 points for SPU, which also got 10 from Scott Morse.

Proctor paced the Yellowjackets with 21 points and Mayes added 14.

SENIOR STARTERS
SPU improved its home record to 11-1 in the final regular-season game at Brougham Pavilion, where a trio of seniors were honored with a pre-game ceremony. Seniors Jake Anderson, Jeff Dorman and Modou Niang then took their places on the floor for the opening tip-off.

Their impact was immediate as Anderson (Burlington, Wash./Burlington-Edison HS) drained a 3-pointer with just 15 seconds elapsed. That helped SPU open the game with seven straight points while the Yellowjackets missed their first eight shots.

"I was extremely happy with the energy we started the game with. Our entire team did a nice job playing hard for our seniors," Looney said.

"We took advantage of how they defended. We got good shots offensively and, like all year, our defense kind of carried us there."

The Yellowjackets initial basket, a layin by Proctor, didn't come until 3:53 into the contest.

The Falcons then tallied 16 unanswered points to stretch the lead to 23-2. Riley Stockton capped the spree on a runner in the lane with 11:14 left in the first half.

Billings responded with a 17-4 run, fueled by six points from Preston Richards, whose layup at 3:50 drew the visitors within 27-19.

SPU scored the next five points and led 34-25 at halftime.

BIG MO
Niang (Richard-Toll, Senegal) made his 6-foot-10 presence felt at both ends of the floor. He scored each of his seven points during a key two-minute stretch early in the second half that staved off a Billings run. Niang also contributed four rebounds and two blocked shots.

"Modou was unbelievably good controlling the paint defensively. When he was in the game it was hard for them to score around the basket and harder for them to offensive rebound too," said Looney. "Then he gave us a little extra punch on offense."

The Falcons play their final two regular-season games on the road, beginning with a visit to 10th-ranked Western Washington on Thursday at 7 p.m.

"It looks like it's setting up to be a big game, especially with Western losing to Central tonight," Looney projected. "We should have a huge rivalry game on our hands."

The Vikings won this season's first meeting 79-71 on Dec. 3 in Seattle. That was SPU's lone home setback.



NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

at Seattle Pacific 78, Montana State Billings 70

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (14-10, 9-7 GNAC)
Proctor 7-19 5-5 21, Mayes 6-12 2-3 14, Henning 1-3 2-2 5, Richards 2-4 1-2 6, Myaer 3-10 2-4 9, Stevens 2-10 1-2 6, Richards 2-4 0-0 4, Cusworth 1-2 0-0 3, Arnold 1-4 0-0 2, Trabing 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-68 13-18 70.

SEATTLE PACIFIC  (20-5, 12-4 GNAC)
Wall 3-6 1-2 7, Anderson 2-6 2-2 7, Niang 3-4 1-3 7, Downs 5-11 14-14 24, Dorman 0-0 0-0 0, Poling 5-8 7-10 17, Morse 1-3 7-8 10, Stockton 1-2 0-0 2, Carel 1-1 0-0 2, Hutsen 1-6 0-0 2. Totals 22-47 32-39 78.

Montana State Billings.....   25   45  -  70
Seattle Pacific............   34   44  -  78

3-point goals—MSUB 7-24 (Proctor 2-7, Henning 1-1, Richards 1-2, Stevens 1-7, Cusworth 1-1, Myaer 1-6), SPU 2-9 (Anderson 1-4, Morse 1-1, Wall 0-1, Downs 0-3). Fouled out--MSUB-Stevens , SPU-None. Rebounds--MSUB 34 (Mayes 15), SPU 42 (Stockton 7). Assists--MSUB 8 (Myaer 3), SPU 13 (Downs 4). Total fouls--MSUB 28, SPU 18. Technical fouls--MSUB-None, SPU-None. A-533.


Next Game
Seattle Pacific at (#10) Western Washington
Thursday, Feb. 23, 7:00 p.m. PST
Carver Gymnasium/Bellingham, Wash.