• Boxscore & Play-by-Play
     • VIDEO: Cory  Hutsen

SEATTLE – Prolific production from post players produced a turnaround in the Falcons fortunes.
 
Centers Andy Poling and Cory Hutsen combined for 36 points and missed only three shots apiece, helping seventh-ranked SPU surge to an early lead en route to an 86-69 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over Simon Fraser at Brougham Pavilion.
 


The Falcons (10-2) improved to 3-1 in conference play. They sustained their first GNAC setback on Thursday with a 66-56 home loss to No. 5 Western Washington.
 
In that defeat, Poling and Hutsen produced only 13 points on a combined 5 of 17 shooting from the floor.
 
“We always make it an emphasis to get the ball inside,” SPU coach Ryan Looney said. “I think Andy and Cory were disappointed with how they played against Western Washington two days ago and responded the right way tonight.”
 
Their response was a combined 17 of 23 performance, mostly from inside the lane.
 
Hutsen (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) hit 8 off 11 shots and tallied 10 of his career-high 17 points during the first half.
 
Poling (Portland, Ore.) drained 9 of 12 attempts and 14 of his game-high 19 points came after halftime.
 
“Cory and Andy just decided to play in the post with a little more toughness,” Looney described. “We thought Thursday night everything they shot was off balance. When that's the case you are going to shoot a low percentage.
 
“They fought a little bit more tonight to get deeper touches and to get their feet balanced before they released the ball.”
 
Simon Fraser (5-6) saw its league ledger drop to 0-3.
 
The Falcons opened the game with five straight points on their way to an early 9-3 lead. An 11-3 run then extended the margin to 23-11 with 11:45 left in the first half.
 
SPU's advantage grew to a first-half high of 16 points, at 40-24, on 3-pointer by Jobi Wall 2:39 before intermission.
 
Helping build that lead was Hutsen who netted the final three baskets of an eight-point SPU surge, all of them coming from near the hoop.
 
The Falcons led 46-35 at halftime, shooting 4-of-9 from 3-point range. In Thursday's defeat they converted just 4 treys for the entire game in 19 attempts.
 
SPU shot 56 percent (33 of 59) Saturday, including 6-of-18 accuracy on 3-pointers.
 
Wall (Arvada, Colo.) finished with 13 points for the Falcons, who also got 11 points and six assists from David Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS).
 
Sophomore Riley Stockton (Spokane, Wash./Ferris HS) also distributed six assists. He tied for team-high rebounding honors with Wall, leading SPU to a 41-29 advantage on the boards.
 
The Clan were led by the 17 points of Taylor Dunn. Anto Olah added 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Ibrahim Appiah chipped in 13 points. Simon Fraser shot 43 percent (26 of 60) from the floor and was 9 of 19 on treys.
 
Twelve of the Clan's first 14 points came from beyond the arc.
 
“They've traditionally been a team that has shot a lot of threes against us, so that was our game plan to try to chase them off the 3-point line,” said Looney. “We gave them too many clean ones.”
 
Matt Stadudacher's steal and layup to start the second half drew the Clan within 46-37, cutting SPU's margin to single digits for the first time since the 5:49 mark of the first half.
 
Patrick Simon (Ephrata, Wash./Ephrata HS) answered with a 3-pointer for the Falcons, who never led by less than 10 points the rest of the way. Their largest lead of 69-50 came when David Downs made the second of consecutive layups with 11:40 left to play.
 
The SPU men remain at home for a game next Saturday (Jan. 12) against Montana State Billings. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion as the nightcap of a doubleheader with the SPU women who play at 5:15 p.m.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
 
at (#7) Seattle Pacific 86, Simon Fraser 69
 
SIMON FRASER (5-6, 0-3 GNAC)
Dunn 7-16 1-1 17, Olah 5-14 4-4 16, Appiah 5-6 2-2 13, Staudacher 2-4 1-2 6, Matthews 0-7 0-1 0, Bantock 3-6 0-0 9, Dunlop 4-7 0-0 8, Hamilton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 8-10 69.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (10-2, 3-1 GNAC)
Wall 4-6 2-4 13, Simon 3-7 0-0 8, Poling 9-12 1-4 19, Downs 4-9 2-3 11, Stockton 2-3 4-6 8, Hutsen 8-11 1-3 17, Reid 1-4 3-4 5, Weber-Brader 2-4 0-0 4, Carroll 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 33-59 14-26 86.
 
Simon Fraser...........  35   34  -  69
Seattle Pacific........  46   40  -  86
 
3-point goals--SF 9-19 (Bantock 3-4, Olah 2-5, Dunn 2-3, Staudacher 1-2, Appiah 1-1, Matthews 0-4), SPU 6-18 (Wall 3-4, Simon 2-4, Downs 1-4, Reid 0-2, Weber-Brader 0-1, Carroll 0-2, Stockton 0-1). Fouled out--SF-Dunlop, SPU-None. Rebounds--SF 29 (Olah 11), SPU 41 (Stockton 8, Wall 8). Assists--SF 10 (Staudacher 4), SPU 20 (Downs 6, Stockton 6). Total fouls--SF 19, SPU 17. Technical fouls--SF-None, SPU-None. Att-412.
 
 
Next Men's Basketball Game
Montana State Billings at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Jan. 12, 7:30 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.