• Boxscore & Play-by-Play
     • VIDEO: Patrick Simon
 
SEATTLE – Patrick Simon hit 5 of 7 shots from 3-point range en route to a 21-point performance Saturday, leading fifth-ranked Seattle Pacific to an 82-54 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory.
 
A Brougham Pavilion crowd of 1,234 on hand for the annual Homecoming Game saw SPU (15-2) complete its first swing through the conference schedule with its most convincing GNAC triumph of the season.
 
“It's great. Obviously there are a couple nights that we might wish we had back,” SPU coach Ryan Looney said.
 
“But we're 15-2 and 8-1 in conference. If you would have asked us before the year if we could have that record and be ranked number five in the country halfway through conference play, we'd probably say we'd take it.”
 
The Falcons' 8-1 ledger puts them second in the GNAC standings, just one game out of first place. Their lone league loss was a 66-56 home setback against first-place Western Washington, which is undefeated. The second-ranked Vikings host the rematch on Feb. 2 in Bellingham.
 


A 6-foot-8 junior forward, Simon (Ephrata, Wash./Ephrata HS) made 8 of his 11 shots from the field. He is a transfer from Washington State.
 
“We have a team full of guys that can really shoot it,” said Looney. “Patrick was one of the guys we found opportunities for. His teammates did a really good job finding him.”
 
The result was never in doubt after SPU raced out to a 16-3 lead powered by seven points from Simon and six from Job Wall. Simon hit a trey with 14:22 left in the first half to cap the game-opening spree.
 
Matt Dodson scored the Saints first nine points, including two free throws that started a six-point run and trimmed their deficit to 22-13 with 10:13 remaining before intermission.
 
The Falcons quickly stretched the lead with nine unanswered points on their way to a 40-22 halftime margin.
 
Wall (Arvada, Colo.) finished with 15 points for SPU, which also got 11 apiece from David Downs and Cory Hutsen. Wall made 5 of 9 treys after shooting 8-for-10 beyond the arc during a 28-point effort in Thursday's 78-72 overtime win over Western Oregon.
 
Saint Martin's (6-11) fell to 2-7 in GNAC games.
 
The Saints Roger O'Neill tallied 17 of his 22 points during the second half when he hit all four of his 3-point tries. Dodson added 13 points and Eric Taylor 10.
 
SPU shot 53 percent (30 of 57) from the floor and 57 percent (12 of 21) on treys. The Saints were limited to 32-percent shooting (20 of 63).
 
The Seattle Pacific men embark on a three-game road trip, beginning with a 5:15 p.m. game at Simon Fraser on Thursday. On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. they clash in Bellingham against defending national champion Western Washington.


NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
 
at #5 Seattle Pacific 82, Saint Martin's 54
 
SAINT MARTIN'S (6-11, 2-7 GNAC)
O'Neill 8-18 1-2 22, Jensen 0-6 0-2 0, Dodson 5-11 3-3 13, Coulter 1-7 0-0 3, Bomber 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor 4-12 0-0 10, Shannon 2-4 2-2 6, Stoney 0-1 0-0 0, Karnofski 0-0 0-0 0, Bond 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-63 6-9 54.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (15-2, 8-1 GNAC)
Wall 5-9 0-0 15, Simon 8-11 0-0 21, Poling 3-8 3-7 9, Downs 4-8 2-2 11, Stockton 1-2 0-0 3, Hutsen 4-5 3-5 11, Morse 2-5 0-0 4, Penner 1-3 1-2 3, Weber-Brader 1-3 0-0 2, Jordan 1-2 0-0 2, Carroll 0-0 1-2 1, Todd 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-57 10-18 82.
 
Saint Martin's.........  22   32  -  54
Seattle Pacific........  40   42  -  82
 
3-point goals--SMU 8-17 (O'Neill 5-7, Taylor 2-5, Coulter 1-3, Bomber 0-1, Bond 0-1), SPU 12-21 (Wall 5-9, Simon 5-7, Downs 1-3, Stockton 1-1, Penner 0-1). Fouled out--SMU-Dodson, Shannon, SPU-None. Rebounds--SMU 30 (Dodson 8), SPU 45 (Stockton 8). Assists--SMU 11 (Coulter, O'Neill 3), SPU 23 (Downs 6). Total fouls--SMU 16, SPU 13. Technical fouls--SMU-None, SPU-None. Att.-1,234.