Box Score    |   Final Stats   |   VIDEO: Garrett  Swanson

SEATTLE – Three games are in the books. Each one of them featured a different Falcons scoring leader.
 
Garrett Swanson topped four double-figure scorers with 14 points Tuesday for 22nd-ranked Seattle Pacific, which registered an 86-62 non-conference men's basketball victory over Evergreen State at Brougham Pavilion.
 
Sixth-year coach Ryan Looney says that fans should get accustomed to a diverse attack this season with the headliner changing every night.
 
"On the offensive end we're going to have to hang our hat on that this year. We have a lot of different guys that can do a lot of different things, but we're going to need balance to make ourselves harder to guard."
 
Part of that is by necessity as the team's top-two scorers from a year ago have departed. David Downs (20.4 ppg) and Patrick Simon (16.0 ppg) are gone, and with them the combined 36.4 points per game they produced.
 
But the cupboard is far from bare as the next six highest scorers from 2013-14 return and they will share the scoring load with assistance from newcomers like Swanson. The 6-foot-8 junior forward is a transfer from Casper (Wyo.) College.
 
Swanson hit 6 of 10 shots from the field to assume the SPU scoring lead Tuesday, a position held before him by Mitch Penner, with 17 points in the season-opener versus Academy of Art, and Cory Hutsen, with 21 against Minnesota Crookston.
 


The NCAA Division II Falcons (2-1) won their second straight game in convincing fashion, following Saturday's 90-38 triumph over Crookston. Evergreen (1-2) is an NAIA competitor.
 
SPU converted its first nine shots of the second half, including a trio of 3-pointers, to extend a nine-point halftime lead to 24. Riley Stockton's layup with 13:04 left to play capped a run of 12 unanswered points that provided a 60-36 advantage.
 
The team didn't miss a shot until Brendan Carroll's jumper caromed off the rim 8:31 into the second half.
 
Looney credited his own team's performance at the other end for their improved results on offense.
 
"It had a lot to do with our defense. During the first eight minutes of the second half we held them to eight points. It's a little bit easier to get better looks offensively when you're not taking it out of the net every time on the defensive end."
 
A late 9-2 surge pushed the differential to a high of 27 points in the Falcons favor, at 81-54 with 3:46 remaining.
 
The SPU men shot 71 percent during the second half (17 of 24), a figure that included 4-of-8 accuracy on treys. That helped them finish at 67 percent for the game (33 of 49).

 

Joining Swanson among the ranks of SPU double-digit scorers were Hutsen and Matt Borton with 13 points apiece and Stockton with 10.
 
Guard Frankie Johnson paced the Geoducks with 21 points on the strength of 6-for-10 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. Alix Hernandez chipped in 14 points and Kortney Darby 12.
 
Evergreen claimed an early 7-4 edge on a layup by Hernandez 2:44 into the game. The hosts scored the next eight points to take the lead for good. Junior point guard Bryce Leavitt tallied five points during the run that resulted in a 12-7 SPU margin with 15:39 left in the first half.
 
The deficit grew to eight points before TESC rallied to draw within 32-31 on a runner in the lane by Hernandez with 2:47 on the clock. The Falcons netted the final eight points of the period, capped by a Swanson trey from the right corner at the buzzer that secured a 40-31 halftime advantage.
 
"It was huge," Looney said of the period-ending push. "You always want momentum going into the locker room at halftime. To our guy's credit, they were able to make that happen."
 
SPU shot 64 percent from the field (16 of 25) during the opening 20 minutes while holding Evergreen at 41 percent (11 of 27).
 
The Falcons hit the road for their next seven outings, including a five-game trip to Hawaii. The five-games-in-six-days stretch starts on Friday against Hawaii Pacific in the opening round of the PacWest/GNAC Challenge in Laie. They clash with host BYU-Hawaii on Saturday night.
 
"I'm excited for it because we need games to get better right now," Looney said of the hectic competition schedule. "We have a lot of returning players, but we're trying to mix in some new guys as well. Only game day can speed that process up."
 
That process is on hyper-speed early in the season as Tuesday marked the third of eight games in 13 days for SPU, a stretch that runs from Nov. 14-26.
 
Following their return from Hawaii, the Falcons get a one-week respite from games before Great Northwest Athletic Conference play begins on Dec. 4 at Northwest Nazarene.
 
The next home game for the SPU men is Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. against George Fox. That is their only December game at Brougham.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
 
at (#22) Seattle Pacific 86, Evergreen State 62
 
EVERGREEN STATE (1-2)
Dam 1-5 0-0 2, Hernandez 6-10 0-1 14, Darby 5-9 2-2 12, Doss 1-5 2-2 5, Johnson 7-15 1-2 21, Rushton 2-4 0-0 5, Rawls 1-2 0-0 3, Briceno 0-2 0-0 0, Weatherspoon 0-1 0-0 0, Terry 0-1 0-0 0, Mitchell 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 5-7 62.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (2-1)
Swanson 6-10 0-0 14, Hutsen 5-6 3-6 13, Leavitt 2-2 4-5 9, Borton 6-7 0-1 13, Stockton 5-8 0-1 10, Carroll 3-4 0-0 8, Parker 2-2 3-3 8, Penner 2-5 2-4 6, Simpson 2-3 0-0 5, Poulsen 0-1 0-0 0, Reid 0-1 0-0 0, Rasmussen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-49 12-20 86.
 
Evergreen State........   31   31  -  62
Seattle Pacific........   40   46  -  86
 
3-point goals--TESC 11-26 (Johnson 6-10, Hernandez 2-6, Doss 1-3, Rawls 1-2, Rushton 1-2, Briceno 0-1, Terry 0-1, Darby 0-1), SPU 8-18 (Carroll 2-2, Swanson 2-5, Simpson 1-2, Borton 1-2, Leavitt 1-1, Parker 1-1, Reid 0-1, Penner 0-2, Stockton 0-2). Fouled out--TESC-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--TESC 22 (Rawls 4), SPU 31 (Borton, Stockton 6). Assists--TESC 12 (Mitchell 4), SPU 20 (Leavitt 6). Total fouls--TESC 16, SPU 13. Technical fouls--TESC-None, SPU-None. Att-211.
 
 
Next Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific vs. Hawaii Pacific
Friday, Nov. 22, 7:00 p.m. PST
Laie, Hawaii