Box Score    |   Final Stats

NAMPA, Idaho – Cory Hutsen led five double-figure scorers with 16 points Thursday as Seattle Pacific successfully started defending its Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball championship with a 77-51 victory over Northwest Nazarene at the Johnson Sports Center.
 
The Falcons (6-2) won their league opener for the fourth straight season, including last year's 73-54 home decision over NNU on Dec. 5. They posted their seventh consecutive win over the Crusaders (1-7) and the 13th victory in the last 14 meetings.
 
Last year SPU captured the conference regular-season crown with a 15-3 record before winning its second of back-to-back GNAC Tournament titles.
 
Sixth-year Coach Ryan Looney said his team is aware of their position as defending champions.
 
"We talked about it before the game, but we realize that it's a really long journey.
 
"There are a number of great teams in the GNAC this year so we're just trying to take it one game at a time, being as prepared as we possibly can so that when we get to the end of the year we're in a good spot."
 
Hutsen hit 8 of 14 shots from the field. The 6-foot-8 senior center from Skyline High School in Sammamish, Wash., topped all SPU scorers for the fourth time in a row.

 

Matt Borton scored 14 points for the Falcons, who also got 13 from Mitch Penner and 10 from Bryce Leavitt. Riley Stockton tallied 11 points and distributed seven of the team's 12 assists.
 
Penner grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Falcons commanding 40-22 lead on the boards.
 
"Our guys played exceptionally well defensively," said Looney. "Obviously by the numbers they did a great job both offensively and defensively rebounding."
 
Aubrey Ball and Mike Wright tied for top scoring honors for NNU with 13 points apiece.
 
SPU never trailed after scoring the game's first eight points. Borton opened the contest with a pair of free throws followed by 3-pointers from Garrett Swanson and Leavitt, the latter coming at 17:41.
 
The hosts missed four shots and committed a turnover in their first five possessions. They did not score until Ball nailed a jumper 3:17 into the game.
 
A 13-2 run, powered by five points from Penner, produced a 25-8 SPU advantage with 7:29 left in the first half. The halftime lead was 31-20.
 
"NNU started to play a zone against us at the end of the first half and we struggled a little bit against it," Looney explained. "We were able to go into the locker room at halftime and just make a couple minor adjustments. I was really proud of how our guys were able to respond to that."
 
The Falcons scored on their first five possessions after the break, capped by a Swanson jumper that increased the margin to 41-25 with 16:35 left to play.
 
The Crusaders never got the deficit within single digits during the second half and SPU put the game away with a late spree of 11 unanswered points. Stockton scored back-to-back layups in the middle of that run and immediately stole the inbounds pass after the second before feeding Hutsen for an easy layup.
 
SPU shot 61 percent (17 of 28) during the second half to improve to 50 percent accuracy for the game (29 of 58). The Crusaders were held to 37-percent shooting from the floor (19 of 51).
 
Seattle Pacific continues GNAC play on Saturday at Central Washington. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. PST at Nicholson Pavilion in Ellensburg.
 
That will be the sixth straight road game for the Falcons, who finally return to Brougham Pavilion on Dec. 12 to host George Fox in a non-league encounter.  That 7 p.m. contest is the lone home game in December for the SPU men.
 
The Falcons GNAC home opener is scheduled for Jan. 1 at 7 p.m. against Western Oregon.
 

NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho

Seattle Pacific 77, at Northwest Nazarene 51

SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-2, 1-0 GNAC)
Swanson 2-5 0-0 5, Hutsen 8-14 0-0 16, Leavitt 3-5 2-2 10, Stockton 5-8 1-2 11, Borton 5-7 2-2 14, Penner 3-6 7-8 13, Carroll 1-9 0-0 2, Rasmussen 1-1 0-0 2, Reid 1-2 0-0 2, Parker 0-1 2-2 2, Poulsen 0-0 0-0 0, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-58 14-16 77.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE (1-7, 0-1 GNAC)
Rima 4-4 1-1 9, Helgesen 0-1 0-0 0, Kinney 3-8 0-0 6, Ball 4-12 5-6 13, Wright 4-10 1-2 13, N'Diaye 2-5 0-0 4, Olivier 1-3 1-2 3, Amburgey 1-2 0-0 3, Massey 0-1 0-0 0, Shedrick 0-4 0-0 0, Hering 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 8-11 51.

Seattle Pacific........   31   46  -  77
Northwest Nazarene.....   20   31  -  51

3-point goals--SPU 5-19 (Leavitt 2-3, Borton 2-4, Swanson 1-3, Carroll 0-4, Reid 0-1, Parker 0-1, Stockton 0-2, Penner 0-1), NNU 5-22 (Wright 4-8, Amburgey 1-2, N'Diaye 0-2, Olivier 0-1, Shedrick 0-3, Hering 0-1, Ball 0-5). Fouled out--SPU-None, NNU-None. Rebounds--SPU 40 (Penner 8), NNU 22 (Rima 7). Assists--SPU 12 (Stockton 7), NNU 5 (Wright 2). Total fouls--SPU 12, NNU 15. Technical fouls--SPU-None, NNU-Bench. Att.-271.


Next Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Central Washington
Saturday, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m. PST
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.