• Final Statistics
      • VIDEO: Andy Poling

SEATTLE – Freshman Riley Stockton scored all of his career-high 11 points during the first half and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds Thursday, helping Seattle Pacific take control early en route to a 73-60 men's basketball victory over Northwest Nazarene at Brougham Pavilion.

The third-place Falcons (18-5) improved to 10-4 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. NNU (11-10) saw its league record drop to 5-8 after getting swept in the season series that included a 71-66 home loss on Jan. 14.

Nine different players grabbed a rebound for SPU, which compiled a commanding 41-16 advantage on the boards.

"I'm happy with the development we've made in our program here the second half of the season in that area," Coach Ryan Looney said of his team's impressive rebounding efforts. "It's been a huge focus of ours and we can definitely see results and the fact that our players have bought in."

Seattle Pacific entered the week ranked No. 5 among NCAA Division II teams in rebounding margin at plus-9.0 per game.  That figure increased to plus-9.6 after Thursday's dominating performance.

The 25-rebound differential wasn't even the largest this season for the Falcons, who out-boarded Alaska Fairbanks by 37 (61-24) at Brougham Pavilion on Jan. 5. They out-rebounded Saturday's opponent, Central Washington, by 35 (54-19) on Jan. 12 in Ellensburg.



Stockton, who entered the game averaging 3.5 points, made his seventh start of the season. He draws a starting assignment when the opponent has a high-scoring threat from the perimeter.

"We definitely count on his defense every single night and some of the things he does in all the little areas," said Looney. "So, for us to get that kind of scoring from him tonight is special."

A product of Spokane's Ferris High School, Stockton also distributed four assists and had two steals. He is the nephew of NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton.

The Falcons utilized runs of nine and 12 points to forge a 42-31 halftime lead.

After SPU jumped ahead 7-2, the Crusaders went on a 9-2 spree and claimed their only lead at 11-9 on a jumper by JB Pillard with 12:44 left in the first half.

The Falcons then reeled off nine straight points to take the lead for good at 18-11 with 10:00 on the clock.

Later, five different players scored during a streak of 12 unanswered points. Stockton capped that surge with a 3-pointer at 2:27 that provided a 35-22 lead.

Junior Andy Poling (Portland, Ore.) paced SPU with 15 points while David Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) and Jobi Wall (Arvada, Colo.) each chipped in 11.

The Falcons made 57 percent of their shots from the field (26 of 46), while limiting NNU to 41 percent (20 of 49).

"I was happy with how we shot the ball and then obviously our rebounding effort on both ends of the floor," said Looney.

The Falcons collected 13 offensive rebounds, outscoring NNU 22-3 in second-chance points.

Pillard and Keith Moilanen led four Crusaders double-figure scorers with 14 points apiece. Anthony Golden scored 11 and Michal Kurimsky had 10.

In the second half the Falcons lead grew to as many as 18 points, at 73-55 with 2:21 left to play. The visitors scored the game's final five points to narrow the margin.

The SPU men stay in Seattle for their next two games. They host Central Washington on Saturday at 7 p.m. and then Montana State Billings visits Brougham Pavilion on Feb. 18.

NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

at Seattle Pacific 73, Northwest Nazarene 60

NORTHWEST NAZARENE (11-10, 5-8 GNAC)
Pillard 6-11 1-2 14, Maxwell 0-2 0-0 0, Nicholes 1-2 0-0 2, Golden 4-7 0-1 11, Hawkins 1-3 0-0 2, Moilanen 3-14 5-7 14, Kurimsky 4-6 2-2 10, Shula 1-2 2-2 5, Hering 0-2 2-4 2. Totals 20-49 12-18 60.

SEATTLE PACIFIC  (18-5, 10-4 GNAC)
Wall 4-6 0-0 11, Hutsen 2-4 2-3 6, Poling 6-7 3-4 15, Downs 1-4 9-10 11, Stockton 4-8 1-1 11, Niang 3-3 1-3 7, Morse 2-4 0-0 4, Dorman 2-3 0-0 4, Anderson 1-1 0-0 2, Carel 1-5 0-0 2, Moll 0-1 0-0 0, Todd 0-0 0-0 0, Washburn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-46 16-21 73.

Northwest Nazarene.......   31   29  -  60
Seattle Pacific..........   42   31  -  73

3-point goals--NNU 8-23 (Moilanen 3-11, Golden 3-6, Pillard 1-2, Shula 1-2, Maxwell 0-2), SPU 5-14 (Wall 3-4, Stockton 2-4, Morse 0-2, Carel 0-1, Downs 0-3). Fouled out--NNU-Maxwell, SPU-None. Rebounds--NNU 16 (Shula, Moilanen 3), SPU 41 (Stockton 8). Assists--NNU 12 (Golden 5), SPU 16 (Stockton, Downs 4). Total fouls--NNU 20, SPU 13. Technical fouls--NNU-None, SPU-None. A-314.


Next Game
Central Washington at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Feb. 11, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.