Box Score             • Final Stats
 
LACEY, Wash. – Ryan Rogers scored 17 points, including the final four in a 73-69 upset for Saint Martin's over 11th-ranked Seattle Pacific on Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Marcus Pavilion.
 
Brendan Carroll's three-point play, on a layup and free throw, drew SPU even at 69-69 with 1:14 left to play. The Saints retook the lead on a basket in the lane by Rogers at 0:58.
 
David Downs missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer from the left corner for the Falcons at 0:13 and Rogers secured the victory on two free throws with 9.5 seconds showing on the clock.
 
The Falcons (11-4) fell to 2-2 in GNAC play with their second straight setback. They lost 74-70 on Thursday at Western Oregon.
 
"We didn't do any of the little things that it takes to win a basketball game," said Coach Ryan Looney. "It didn't matter who we would have played tonight, we didn't deserve to win."
 
Saint Martin's (5-7) evened its league ledger at 2-2 while halting an eight-game losing streak against SPU.
 
Former Falcon Riley Carel, who transferred from SPU after the 2012 season and sat out last year, tied for Saints' scoring honors with 17 points. He also contributed eight assists and six rebounds.
 
Evan Coulter added 16 points, five of them coming during SMU's decisive 16-point run.
 
Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) led all scorers with 24 points. Carroll tallied 15 points for the Falcons, who got points from only five players. Mitch Penner scored 13 points, Cory Hutsen had 12 and Joe Rasmussen five.
 
SPU got a layup from Penner and free throw from Downs to claim its final lead at 39-38 with 16:58 left to play.
 
The Saints reeled off the next 16 points to go ahead 54-39 with 13:19 remaining. Coulter started the run with two free throws at 16:43 and also nailed a 3-pointer midway through. The 15-point lead was the largest this season by an opponent against the Falcons.
 
The deficit was 14 points before Downs singlehandedly rallied SPU. He netted 10 consecutive points to draw the visitors within 60-56 with 8:10 to play.
 
Hutsen later scored four points to start a six-point surge that brought SPU within 67-66 with 2:03 remaining before the Saints' Matt Dodson stopped it with two free throws at 1:24.
 
"If you look closely at it, the rebounding margin was even, we turned it over way more than they did and they shot it 14 more times from the floor than we did," Looney said.
 
Both teams compiled 29 rebounds and SPU turned the ball over 13 times to eight for the Saints. The Falcons shot 53 percent (23 of 45) from the field while SMU shot 48 percent (28 of 59).
 
SPU was playing its third game without starting forward Patrick Simon. The 6-foot-8 senior forward is sidelined with a hand injury and his status for next week's action is uncertain. He is the team's top rebounder (4.9 rpg) and second-leading scorer (16.6 ppg).
 
In the first half, the Falcons raced out to an 8-2 advantage and led by as many as nine points. Carroll made back-to-back layups to put them ahead 27-18 with 9:23 left in the period.
 
SMU chipped away at the margin, drawing within 34-33 by intermission with the final five points of the half.
 
The SPU men return home for a pair of conference games next week, hosting Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday and Alaska Anchorage on Saturday. Both games tip off at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
 
at Saint Martin's 73, (#11) Seattle Pacific 69
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (11-4, 2-2 GNAC)
Borton 0-4 0-0 0, Penner 5-6 2-3 13, Hutsen 5-8 2-4 12, Downs 7-14 8-11 24, Stockton 0-2 0-0 0, Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Carroll 6-7 2-3 15, Todd 0-0 0-0 0, Rasmussen 1-3 2-3 5. Totals 24-45 16-24 69.
 
SAINT MARTIN'S (5-7, 2-2 GNAC)
Rogers 6-15 5-7 17 Dodson 2-3 2-2 6, Coulter 6-11 2-2 16, Carel 7-12 2-3 17, Copp 0-5 2-2 2, Bond 0-0 0-0 0, Bianchini 2-6 0-0 5, Shannon 4-5 0-0 8, Jensen 0-0 0-0 0, Norman 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-59 13-16 73.
 
Seattle Pacific.........   34   35  -   69
Saint Martin's..........   33   40  -   73

3-point goals--SPU 5-13 (Downs 2-5 Penner 1-1, Carroll 1-2, Rasmussen 1-2, Stockton 0-1, Borton 0-2), SMU 4-25 (Coulter 2-4, Bianchini 1-4, Carel 1-6, Norman 0-1, Copp 0-4, Rogers 0-6). Fouled out--SPU-Stockton, SMU-Coulter. Rebounds--SPU 29 (Penner 6), SMU 29 (Carel 6). Assists--SPU 9 (Downs, Borton 3), SMU 12 (Carel 8). Total fouls--SPU 16, SMU 23. Technical fouls--SPU-None, SMU-None. Att.-486.

Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Jan. 9, 7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.