Box Score

NAMPA, Idaho – Coach Ryan Looney cherishes conference championship seasons, not primarily due to their triumphant endings, but because he appreciates the arduous journey it took to get there.
 
Riley Stockton compiled a career-high 21 points for 20th-ranked Seattle Pacific, which claimed sole possession of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball championship with a 74-60 victory at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday in the final regular-season game for both teams.
 
The Falcons (24-5) improved to 15-3 to capture their fifth regular-season championship since the GNAC was formed in 2002. This is the second regular-season title under fifth-year coach Looney, whose first team was the 2010 league champion.
 
SPU also won the 2006 conference crown outright and shared the title in both 2007 and 2002.
 
Looney directed the Falcons to the GNAC Tournament title with two playoff wins last season. But he has a greater appreciation for finishing atop the standings after the 18-game grind against league opponents.
 
"To me, winning the conference is probably the hardest thing to do other than winning the national title. It's not easy. You are playing against people who scout your team all the time and know your tendencies. So for us to do it and come out on top is pretty special."
 
Stockton (Spokane, Wash./Ferris HS), who is the nephew of NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton, surpassed the previous career-high point total of 16 that he accomplished twice this season. The junior guard hit 9 of 18 shots from the field and made 3 of 7 shots from 3-point range.
 
"Riley was huge tonight," Looney exclaimed. "He took more shots than he ever has. Normally it would take him probably three games to get to that total. But NNU did a great job squeezing David (Downs) and Patrick (Simon) and because of it somebody else was going have to shoot it. Tonight Riley did it."
 
David Downs netted 10 of his 16 points from the free throw line for the Falcons, who also got 14 points from Patrick Simon.
 
NNU (7-19) completed its season with a 5-13 GNAC record. The hosts were led by 15 points from Mario Donaldson, 14 from Michael Loomis and 10 from Grayson Moore.
 
After getting a jumper from Donaldson 10 seconds into the game, the Crusaders did not score another point for nearly six minutes. They missed five shots and committed five turnovers during the span, enabling SPU to take an 11-2 advantage before Moore hit three free throws at 13:56.
 
The Falcons held NNU without a basket for a stretch of 9-minutes, 31-seconds while building a 22-7 advantage. They answered a layup by Donaldson at 10:19 with seven straight points to claim their largest margin, at 29-9 with 8:23 left in the first half.
 
"It was important to get off to a good start," Looney said. "Anytime you are in the situation we were in trying to seal off an outright conference championship you don't want to be too emotional one way or another. For us to get that start, kind of get everybody energized and collectively on the same page was good."
 
The Crusaders got back into the game with a 14-1 run, capped by a Loomis 3-pointer that cut their deficit to 30-23 with 3:23 on the clock.
 
But SPU pushed its lead back out to 39-28 by halftime with four points inside the final 1:08, on two free throws from Downs and a jumper by Stockton.
 
NNU drew within 10 points on two occasions late in the game, but was unable to get within single digits in the second half.
 
After Donaldson converted a pair of free throws with 1:33 remaning to move the Crusaders within 68-58, Downs connected on six consecutive charity shots to repel the rally.
 
"I'm really proud of our guys. It was a little bit of a slugfest," Looney said. "NNU always makes things difficult for us and I was proud of the way our guys battled through that."
 
The next action for the SPU men is Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the semifinal round of the GNAC Tournament at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash. They are the top seed and will meet the winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup between No. 4 Alaska Anchorage and No. 5 Western Oregon.
 
"It's great to be the No. 1 seed. Any time this late in the year you can get a bye and rest your players one more day is great," Looney said.
 
The men's conference championship game is slated for Saturday at 5:15 p.m.
 
The Falcons were the 2013 conference tournament champions, beating regular-season winner Western Washington 72-70 on a last-second 3-pointer by Jobi Wall.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
 
(#20) Seattle Pacific 74, at Northwest Nazarene 60
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (24-5, 15-3 GNAC)
Borton 1-4 0-0 3, Simon 4-6 3-4 14, Hutsen 2-6 1-2 5, Downs 3-11 10-10 16, Stockton 9-18 0-1 21, Penner 3-5 1-1 8, Carroll 2-5 2-2 7, Rasmussen 0-0 0-0 0, Todd 0-0 0-0 0, Parker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 17-20 74.
 
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (7-19, 5-13 GNAC)
Rima 3-7 2-2 8, Moore 2-6 5-5 10, Donaldson 6-16 3-4 15, Perryman 0-3 0-0 0, Isaak 0-5 0-0 0, Loomis 4-9 3-3 14, Hering 2-4 3-4 7, Olivier 2-5 2-2 6, Van Beuren 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-55 18-20 60.

Seattle Pacific...............   39   35   --   74
Northwest Nazarene............   28   32   --   60

3-point goals--SPU 9-23 (Stockton 3-7, Simon 3-5, Carroll 1-2, Penner 1-2, Borton 1-2, Downs 0-5), NNU 4-16 (Loomis 3-6, Moore 1-1, Hering 0-1, Olivier 0-2, Isaak 0-1, Perryman 0-3, Donaldson 0-2). Fouled out--SPU-None, NNU-Hering. Rebounds--SPU 37 (Borton 11), NNU 34 (Moore 11). Assists--SPU 13 (Downs 4), NNU 5 (Moore, Donaldson 2). Total fouls--SPU 15, NNU 17. Technical fouls--SPU-None, NNU-Bench. Att.-804.

Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
GNAC Tournament semifinals
Seattle Pacific vs. Western Oregon/Alaska Anchorage quarterfinal winner
Thursday, Mar. 6, 7:30 p.m. PST
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
 
 
2014 GNAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
(seedings listed)
 
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, March 5
GAME 1: (6) Montana State Billings vs. (3) Alaska Fairbanks, 12:00 p.m.
GAME 2: (5) Western Oregon vs. (4) Alaska Anchorage, 2:15 p.m.
 
Semifinals
Thursday, March 6
GAME 3: Winner game 1 vs. (2) Western Washington, 5:15 p.m.
GAME 4: Winner game 2 vs. (1) Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
 
Championship
Saturday, March 8
GAME 5: Winner game 3 vs. Winner game 4, 5:15 p.m.