Box Score         • Final Stats     |    • VIDEO: Post-Game Press Conference

LACEY, Wash. –- The Falcons attention to small details paid off with a big reward Saturday.
 
Most Valuable Player David Downs scored 10 consecutive second-half points to fuel a run that rallied 18th-ranked Seattle Pacific to its second straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament championship with a 65-62 victory over Western Washington at Marcus Pavilion.
 
The Falcons (26-5) earned the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. They will make their 10th consecutive playoff appearance, the longest current streak among Division II men's basketball teams.
 


SPU, which was the No. 1 seed by virtue of winning the league's regular-season title, won its 15th game in the last 16 outings.
 
The second-seeded Vikings (20-8) had three chances at a go-ahead basket before Richard Woodworth's attempt in the lane with five seconds to play was rebounded by SPU's Matt Borton, who then converted two free throws with 3.7 seconds on the clock to set the final score.
 
WWU did not get a shot at a tying 3-pointer as Jeffrey Parker's long inbounds pass was corralled by Borton as time expired.
 
Coach Ryan Looney credited plays like those by Borton as keys the victory.
 
"Tonight, our defense, our toughness and these guys just being gritty making some winning plays that we talk about every day got it done for us."
 
 
In last year's conference championship game, the Falcons upset regular-season winner WWU 72-70 on a last-second 3-pointer by Jobi Wall.
 
Downs echoed his coaches' comments, turning the attention off his lofty scoring total and onto his teammates.
 
"All those shots that I hit, it's not possible without having these guys around. We had five different guys with five or more rebounds. We have guys completely selfless, going in there rebounding and doing whatever it takes to win the game."
 
The Vikings stretched a three-point halftime lead to 40-32 when Austin Bragg slammed home an alley-oop dunk off a pass from Robert Harris with 15:57 remaining.
 
After calling a timeout, SPU staged a 16-3 run to go ahead 48-43 with 10:27 left to play. Downs tallied the last 10 points of the surge that provided the Falcons' first lead since he scored the opening basket of the game.
 
 
"To be honest I don't necessarily remember, but a lot of the communication in all of the timeouts was about being tough and doing all the little things that we've done since day one in practice. In a game like that, those are what you need to get through and win."
 
Downs doesn't recall what was said during that timeout either, but knows what he was thinking at the time.
 
"We were down eight at that point and I remember looking up at the scoreboard and thinking 'We're fine. We've been in this position before. We're not hitting our shots, it's going to change on the defensive end.'
 
"During that run we got three quick stops in a row with good rebounds that we were able to convert on the other end."
 
Patrick Simon, who made his only 3-pointer during the decisive spree, finished with 11 points for the Falcons.
 
Bragg scored 20 points to lead WWU, which also got 14 from Parker and 11 from Harris.
 
SPU shot 43 percent for the game (25 of 58) while limiting the Vikings to 39-percent accuracy (26 of 66).
 
"Western Washington has a fantastic team. They really rebound it and they've got great guard play," Looney said.
 
"We talk a lot about the margins in regards to rebound margin and turnover margin. On most nights if we can win those we'll win the game. If you look closely here we were plus-two on the glass, the turnovers were even and we won a one possession game."
 
Borton grabbed eight rebounds to help SPU to a slim 39-37 edge on the boards. Each team committed eight turnovers.
 
The Vikings were in control nearly the entire first half.
 
After Downs opened the scoring with a reverse layup, the Falcons missed their next eight shots. That enabled Western to build an 8-2 lead. That margin increased to 12-4 with 13 minutes left in the half on back-to-back baskets by Harris and Bragg.
 
The Falcons finally found their stroke, hitting 5 of 7 shots during one stretch, to finish at 42 percent (11 of 26) for the half. They tallied the final four points of the period, on a layup by Riley Stockton and two free throws from Downs, to draw within 29-26 at halftime.
 
SPU made just 1 of 6 shots from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes and finished at 5 of 20 for the game.
 
 
"For where we are at in our season, we needed it to give ourselves the best possible seed in the NCAA Tournament coming up next week. Regardless if tonight was just a single game or playing for the conference tournament championship, we needed it."
 
The 64-team NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time via a live selection show that airs on the official NCAA website at the following address:  www.ncaa.com/sports/basketball-men/d2
 
The playoffs begin with first-round action on Friday. The West Region semifinals will be played Saturday and the regional championship game on Monday.
 
SPU and Western met in each of the last two regional championship games with the Vikings winning both to advance to the Elite Eight.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
GNAC Tournament – Championship Game
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
 
(#18) Seattle Pacific 65, Western Washington 62
 
WESTERN WASHINGTON (20-8)
Turner 1-5 0-0 2, Parker 6-10 0-1 14, Bragg 9-20 0-0 20, Harris 4-13 2-2 11, Woodworth 3-11 0-0 7, Schreiber 2-4 2-3 6, Thorpe 1-1 0-0 2, Mitchell 0-2 0-0 0, Oliver 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-66 4-6 62.

SEATTLE PACIFIC (26-5)
Borton 2-6 2-2 6, Simon 5-15 0-0 11, Hutsen 4-11 0-0 8, Downs 8-16 6-6 26, Stockton 3-6 1-3 7, Carroll 2-2 1-2 5, Penner 1-2 0-0 2, Todd 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 10-13 65.

Western Washington............   29   33   --   62
Seattle Pacific...............   26   39   --   65

3-point goals--WWU 6-16 (Parker 2-5, Bragg 2-3, Woodworth 1-3, Harris 1-4, Schreiber 0-1), SPU 5-20 (Downs 4-6, Simon 1-9, Stockton 0-2, Borton 0-3). Fouled out--WWU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--WWU 37 (Bragg, Woodworth 8), SPU 39 (Borton 8). Assists--WWU 11 (Turner 4), SPU 12 (Borton 4). Total fouls--WWU 16, SPU 12. Technical fouls--WWU-None, SPU-None. Att.-936.