• Final Stats      |      • VIDEO: Matt Borton

SEATTLE – Coach Ryan Looney fretted about the Falcons first foe. Just think how concerned he will be on Saturday at Stanford.
 
Cory Hutsen and Patrick Simon combined to score 45 points for Seattle Pacific, which took control late in the first half Tuesday en route to a 92-71 men's basketball exhibition win over Concordia (Ore.) University at Brougham Pavilion.
 
Looney explained that his pre-game apprehension was because SPU's first game out of the chute came against an opponent whose season was already well underway.
 
"To this point in the year, Concordia had practiced 28 times to our 12. And they had already played an alumni game and three counting games. From that perspective I was extremely worried."
 
The Falcons countered with big games from two experienced veterans.
 
A 6-foot-8 junior center, Hutsen (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) did his damage inside by hitting 10 of 15 shots from the lane to lead all scorers with 24 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds as the Falcons won the board battle 43-31.
 
"Cory Hutsen had a nice night. He will be one of the most skilled post players with his back to the basket in our conference," Looney said. "In all reality, tonight his teammates probably could have done even a better job of finding him in the post."
 
Simon (Ephrata, Wash./Ephrata HS), a 6-8 forward, hurt Concordia from the outside. He shot 5-for-8 from 3-point range in a 21-point performance.
 
As a team, SPU converted 13 of 21 treys, including a perfect 3-for-3 effort from newcomer Matt Borton (Yakima, Wash./West Valley HS). The 6-5 guard, a transfer from Idaho, tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds in his Falcons debut.
 


Senior point guard David Downs (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) contributed 13 points and eight assists for SPU. He is the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year.
 
NAIA competitors from Portland, Ore., the Cavaliers were led by the 22 points of Willy Ligon. Tyler Velasquez and Adam Herman each added 13 points.
 
Concordia will join SPU in the GNAC in 2015-16 after being approved for membership by the league last week.
 
The visitors grabbed their largest lead, at 30-25, on a 3-pointer by Ligon with 3:35 left in the first half. SPU scored the next 11 points, capped by a Simon layup at 0:53, for a 36-30 advantage.
 
Esvan Middleton repelled the run with a layup to bring the Cavaliers within 36-32 at halftime.
 
"They wanted to press and play chaotic," Looney described of Concordia's style of play. "The only way for us to prevent them from doing that is to get defensive stops so they can't.
 
"There was a stretch at the end of the first half and then a big stretch in the second half where we were stringing stops together and then coming down being able to execute offense, which was making it hard for them."
 
Three minutes into the second half SPU got points from four different players to spark a run of 10 unanswered points for a 53-39 lead with 15:12 remaining. That lead grew as large as 24 points.
 
The Falcons shot 62 percent (18 of 29) in the second half to finish at 53 percent (32 of 60) for the game.
 
Looney's team prides itself on stellar shooting. But he knows they won't be as accurate in every game as they were in the second half Tuesday.
 
"We can't rely on that. We can't give up 14 offensive rebounds and turn it over 18 times and expect to win because we shot 62 percent in a half," he said.
 
"We found out that we've got to play harder on game day than what we did early and that we've got to clean up some things to hopefully help win the possession battles."
 
The Falcons' 18 turnovers, 10 of them caused by CU steals, led directly to 21 points for their opposition.
 
After an initial surge, when the Cavaliers hit 7 of their first 14 shots, SPU defended well. The hosts limited Concordia to 40 percent shooting (25 of 62) from the field.
 
The SPU men embark on a tough trip for their second, and final, exhibition game. They visit NCAA Division I Stanford on Saturday for a 2 p.m. exhibition game at Maples Pavilion.
 
"We're excited. It will be a great environment for the guys in our program to get to play in," Looney said. "For us to have a chance to be competitive in it we're going to have to clean up some things real quick."
 
The regular-season begins Nov. 8-10 at the Disney Tip-Off Classic in Anaheim, Calif. The Falcons play games on three consecutive days, beginning Nov. 8 against Cal State Dominguez Hills.

 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL (Exhibition Game)
Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 92, Concordia (Ore.) 71
 
CONCORDIA
Herman 2-7 9-11 13, Middleton 4-8 0-1 8, Ligon 9-19 2-2 22, Velasquez 5-12 2-4 13, Holton 0-1 0-0 0, Kirwan 3-7 0-1 6, Pierce 2-4 0-0 4, Matthews 0-1 3-3 3, Ramirez 0-2 2-4 2, Nuaimi 0-1 0-0 0, Armstrong 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 18-26 71.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC
Borton 5-12 0-0 13, Simon 8-14 0-0 21, Hutsen 10-15 4-5 24, Downs 4-7 2-4 13, Stockton 2-5 0-1 4, Penner 1-4 2-2 5, Todd 1-1 2-2 4, Parker 0-1 3-4 3, Ehlers 1-1 0-0 3, Hamlin 0-0 2-2 2, Poulsen 0-0 0-0 0, Rasmussen 0-0 0-0 0, Carroll 0-0 0-0 0, Morse 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-60 15-20 92.
 
Concordia..............   36   39  -  71
Seattle Pacific........   32   56  -  92

3-point goals--CU 3-14 (Ligon 2-8, Velasquez 1-5, Herman 0-1), SPU 13-21 (Simon 5-8, Borton 3-3, Downs 3-6, Ehlers 1-1, Penner 1-1, Parker 0-1, Stockton 0-1). Fouled out--CU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--CU 31 (Middleton 9), SPU 43 (Borton 10). Assists--CU 6 (Herman 2), SPU 23 (Downs 8). Total fouls--CU 25, SPU 19. Technical fouls--CU-None, SPU-None. Att.-517.

Next Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Stanford
Saturday, Nov. 2, 2:00 p.m.
Maples Pavilion/Palo Alto, Calif.