• Box score, play-by-play
      • VIDEO: Jobi Wall                |       • VIDEO: Coach Ryan Looney

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Cold shooting put Seattle Pacific's season on ice.
 
John Allen scored 16 points to lead top-seeded Western Washington, which limited SPU to a season-low 28-percent shooting Monday to claim the West Region championship with a 56-50 victory in the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament on the Vikings' Carver Gymnasium home floor.
 
The Falcons were never far behind. But except for once early in the first half, they never surged into the lead.
 
"Obviously it's very, very disappointing,” said SPU junior Jobi Wall. “We set a goal at the start of the year and to come so close to getting to the Elite Eight and fall short, it stings.
 
“We were right there. If a couple things different happen during the game, it's a different outcome.”
 
Wall (Arvada, Colo.) produced his third double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, helping the visitors outboard WWU 45-32.
 
Andy Poling was the Falcons only other double-figure scorer, leading the team with 15 points.
 
Seattle Pacific finished its season at 23-8, having advanced to the regional final for the first time since 2006. SPU defeated Dixie State 70-68 in Friday's first round before downing Alaska Anchorage 80-67 in the regional semifinal on Saturday.
 


The top-seeded Vikings (28-5), ranked No. 12 nationally, move on to Highland Heights, Ky., next Wednesday to face either Midwestern State or Arkansas Tech. Those two teams play in the South Central Region title game on Tuesday.
 
Zach Henifin contributed 11 points for WWU, which also got 10 from Rory Blanche.
 
Junior center Poling (Portland, Ore.) was named to the all-tournament team, along with sophomore teammate David Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS).
 
Trailing 30-23 at halftime, the Falcons came out and hit their initial four shots from the field – the first three of those by Poling – to climb into a 32-32 tie with 17:46 left in the game. That was the first time they hadn't trailed since it was 14-14.
 
But the Vikings answered with six in a row to go back on top, 38-32 as SPU went scoreless for 3½ minutes. That lead eventually grew as large as 10 at 46-36 with 10:21 left in the game.
 
Seattle Pacific ran off seven straight points, closing to 46-43 with 7:39 to go.
 
Western built it back up to seven, 52-45, with 3:37 left, and the Falcons never came closer than four after that, the last time at 54-50 with 37.7 seconds left on the clock.
 
SPU hit just 16 of 57 shots for the game, including only 4 of 19 from 3-point range. Downs, the Falcons leading season scorer at 15.9 points per contest, did not make a basket in seven tries. A 44-percent 3-point shooter, he missed all four of his trey tries Monday.
 
“We just didn't shoot it well enough tonight and that probably has to do a lot with fatigue, playing three of the last four days,” said Coach Ryan Looney, who directed the Falcons into the playoffs in each of his three seasons at the helm.
 
“You can't shoot this poorly and expect to win a regional final."
 
The Vikings took two fewer shots (23 of 55 for 42 percent), but hit seven more field goals than the Falcons. Western was 7 of 19 from downtown compared to 4 of 19 for SPU.
 
The Falcons kept their opponent below 60 points for the 15th time this season, but Western was the first team to beat them in that situation.
 
The Vikings won all three games from SPU this season, sweeping both meetings during Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
This was the second time the long-time rivals have played for the regional championship. The first was in 2006 when the Falcons won on their home court in Brougham Pavilion, 81-77, and eventually went on to the national semifinals.
 
The frigid shooting started early for the Falcons as they missed their first four shots before a putback by Poling tied the score at 2-2. That was the first of four ties in the opening 20 minutes, during which SPU's only lead was 5-4 when senior forward Jake Anderson (Burlington, Wash./Burlington-Edison HS) put back his own miss. That turned out to be the only lead of the game for SPU.
 
A 3-pointer by Henifiin snapped a 14-14 tie, and Western stayed in front for the final 11:05 of the half, twice building it to as many as seven points.
 
The Falcons hit just seven of their 33 first-half shots (21 percent), as their top three scoring threats – Poling, Downs and Wall – were limited to a combined 3 of 25 (12 percent). But SPU stayed in the game in part by limiting the Vikings to just 39 percent shooting (12 of 31) – right in range with its season average of allowing its opponents to shoot just 38.9 percent, the eighth-best mark in all of Division II.
 
SPU was playing in its eighth straight NCAA tournament – the longest active streak of any Division II team.
 
The disappointment from the season-ending setback had not yet dissipated, but the Falcons were already looking ahead to the 2012-13 season.
 
"It's a little hard to think about that on the heels of a loss, but we've got a young group of guys and should definitely be back next year,” Wall remarked. “We've got a big group coming back next year and we'll definitely use this as motivation to work in the off-season and keep getting better so we can get back to this point next year."
 
Coach Looney concurred.
 
"Everybody is down right now, but this loss will be our motivation going into every workout this spring and hopefully all summer and obviously when we get our year going again next season.
 
"I'm excited for the future and where we're headed. Hopefully we can get back here."



NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
West Regional championship
Monday, March 12, 2012
Carver Gym / Bellingham, Wash.
 
(#1) Western Washington 56, (#3) Seattle Pacific 50
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (23-8)
Wall 4-12 0-0 12, Anderson 3-10 2-2 8, Poling 6-20 3-7 15, Downs 0-7 8-9 8, Stockton 1-3 0-0 2, Niang 2-2 0-0 4, Hutsen 0-2 1-2 1, Morse 0-0 0-0 0, Carel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-57 14-20 50.
 
WESTERN WASHINGTON (28-5)
Blanche 5-12 0-0 10, Henifin 4-10 1-2 11, Mitchell 1-5 0-0 2, Woodworth 4-8 0-1 9, Allen 6-12 2-2 16, Wilkins 2-4 0-1 6, Jones 1-4 0-0 2, Young 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-55 3-6 56.
 
Seattle Pacific...............   23   27  -   50
Western Washington............   30   26  -   56
 
3-point goals--SPU 4-19 (Wall 4-8, Anderson 0-4, Downs 0-4, Stockton 0-2, Carel 0-1), WWU 7-19 (Wilkins 2-2, Henifin 2-5, Allen 2-6, Woodworth 1-3, Mitchell 0-3). Fouled out--SPU-None, WWU-None. Rebounds--SPU 45 (Wall 10), WWU 32 (Mitchell 8). Assists--SPU 7 (Stockton, Downs 2), WWU 12 (Allen 4). Total fouls--SPU 13, WWU 17. Technical fouls--SPU-None, WWU-None. A-1,968.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Most Outstanding Player: John Allen, Western Washington

Andy Poling, Seattle Pacific
David Downs, Seattle Pacific
Rory Blanche, Western Washington
Zach Henifin, Wetsern Washington