Box Score             • Final Stats

MONOUTH, Ore. – Despite a game-high 28 points from David Downs, the 11th-ranked Seattle Pacific men suffered their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball setback, 74-70, on Thursday against Western Oregon at the New PE Building.
 
The Falcons (11-3) had their four-game winning streak stopped and fell to 2-1 in league play.
 
Rodney Webster and Marwan Sarhan each scored 17 points to lead WOU (9-4), which posted its fifth consecutive win and improved to 2-1 in GNAC games.
 
"Our effort was good and we did a lot of things well. But in the second half we missed six free throws and turned it over 10 times," said SPU coach Ryan Looney. "When you are playing without Patrick Simon, your margin for error is a little bit lower."
 
Simon, the Falcons 6-foot-8 senior forward, missed his second game with a hand injury and his status for the next outing is uncertain. He is the team's top rebounder (4.9 rpg) and second-leading scorer (16.6 ppg).
 
SPU converted 15 of 26 free throws for the game, but shot just 7-for-13 from the stripe in the second half. Five of those misses came during the closing seven minutes.
 
Looney refused to blame the 12-day hiatus from competition due to the Christmas holiday for the subpar free throw shooting?
 
"It's been an issue for us for a long time. I don't think it probably has anything to do with that at all."
 
Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) played a part in 41 of the Falcons 70 points, 13 on them coming from five assists. He nailed 5 of 9 shots from 3-point range and is now shooting 57 percent (45 of 79) beyond the arc this season.
 
The senior point guard moved into the No. 6 spot among all-time SPU scorers with 1,420 career points. Downs surpassed Brannon Stone who compiled 1,394 points between 1999 and 2002.
 
"He was good," exclaimed Looney. "David made a lot of plays for us, but at the end of the day though we're going to have to find somebody else who can step up and put it in the hoop until we get Patrick back."
 
 Junior center Cory Hutsen (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) was the only other Falcon in double figures with 13 points. He made 6 of 8 shots from the field.
 
The Wolves surged ahead for good midway through the second half after trailing for most of the game. Their decisive seven-point run, capped by a Webster layup, forged a 57-52 advantage with 8:33 left to play.
 
SPU trimmed the margin to three points on three occasions and then drew within 72-70 on a deep, top-of-the key 3-pointer by Matt Borton with nine seconds remaining.
 
WOU's Devon Alexander was quickly fouled on the inbounds play and converted both free throws with 7.9 seconds on the clock to seal the Falcons fate.
 
In the first half, Downs netted eight straight points to put SPU ahead 13-7 with 15:24 left until intermission. The teams exchanged points for the next eight minutes before the Wolves went on an eight-point run to go ahead 32-30 with 3:01 left in the period.
 
The Falcons tallied the final five points to finish the half with a 39-36 edge.
 
The SPU men remain on the road for a GNAC game on Saturday at Saint Martin's. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash.
 
Their next home game at Brougham Pavilion is Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. against Alaska Fairbanks.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014
New PE Building / Monmouth, Ore.
 
at Western Oregon 74, (#11) Seattle Pacific 70
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (11-3, 2-1 GNAC)
Borton 3-5 0-0 8, Penner 1-4 4-6 6, Hutsen 6-8 1-6 13, Downs 8-18 7-9 28, Stockton 3-5 1-1 8, Carroll 2-3 2-4 7, Ehlers 0-2 0-0 0, Rasmussen 0-1 0-0 0, Todd 0-1 0-0 0, Parker 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 15-26 70.
 
WESTERN OREGON (9-4, 2-1 GNAC)
Hastings 2-5 3-6 7, Avgi 4-5 0-0 8, Sarhan 8-12 0-2 17, Alexander 1-4 2-2 5, Wiley 0-1 7-7 7, Webster 7-14 3-4 17, Schriber 2-3 0-0 5, Thomas 2-5 0-0 5, Sabic 1-5 0-0 3, Dupree-Turner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-54 15-21 74.
 
Seattle Pacific...............   39   31  -   70
Western Oregon................   36   38  -   74

3-point goals--SPU 9-18 (Downs 5-9, Borton 2-3, Stockton 1-3, Carroll 1-2, Penner 0-1), WOU 5-15 (Schriber 1-2, Alexander 1-3, Sabic 1-4, Thomas 1-2, Sarhan 1-1, Wiley 0-1, Webster 0-2). Fouled out--SPU-None, WOU-None. Rebounds--SPU 31 (Penner 7), WOU 31 (Sarhan 8). Assists--SPU 10 (Downs 5), WOU 12 (Alexander 4). Total fouls--SPU 18, WOU 23. Technical fouls--SPU-None, WOU-None. Att.-313.