Box Score

LACEY, Wash. – Despite a 10-point halftime lead, Coach Ryan Looney wasn't happy. His discontentment led to one of Seattle Pacific's finest halves of basketball this season.
 
Shawn Reid came off the bench to score 23 points in 20 minutes Thursday for SPU, which cruised to an 84-52 victory over Saint Martin's in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Marcus Pavilion.
 
The second-place Falcons (16-4) improved to 8-2 in conference action with their fourth consecutive win. They visit league-leading Western Oregon on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Monmouth, Ore.
 
"Part of the motivation to work every day all year long is to give yourself an opportunity to play in big games," said Looney. "We know that's what we're facing on Saturday and we feel good about it."
 
A senior forward, Reid (Post Falls, Idaho) hit 8 of 12 shots from the field. He nailed 4 of 6 attempts from 3-point range and converted all three free throws.
 
Soon after entering the game, Reid drained back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a nine-point run that gave SPU an early 13-5 lead.
 
"Shawn came in and gave us a big lift of the bench," said Looney. "On the nights when he does that, we are a lot better on offense."
 
The Saints (5-15) rallied to score six straight points, four of them from Victor Ieronymides, to draw within 20-18 with 8:05 left in the first half.
 
Matt Borton stopped that surge with a 3-pointer at 6:27 that ignited a 10-point SPU spree that provided a 30-18 advantage with 3:37 on the clock.
 
SMU trailed 34-24 at halftime despite outshooting (48% to 46%) and outrebounding (15-13) the visitors.
 
"Our shot selection and rebounding effort in the first half wasn't where we needed it to be," Looney said. "Our guys did a really good job making some changes at halftime. In the second half our guys did a really good job of getting back to what we work on every day."

 

The Falcons were impressive immediately after intermission, outscoring their hosts 11-3 during the opening four minutes. Cory Hutsen opened the half with back-to-back layups for his first points of the night.
 
The primary benefactor of the Looney's halftime exhortations was Hutsen (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS), who netted all 11 of his points after halftime. The 6-foot-8 senior center made 5 of 6 second-half shots after not attempting any in the opening period.
 
"We talked at halftime about taking too many early shots and taking contested ones when, in all reality, we're better when we let it touch the post first," Looney explained.
 
By the time Borton made a backdoor layup off a post pass from Hutsen, SPU owned a 45-27 margin.
 
The lone Saints basket during that span was a long 3-pointer by Riley Carel that barely beat the shot clock at 16:49. They missed two shots and turned the ball over twice in their other early possessions.
 
The Falcons rode stellar shooting to lead by as many as 34 points. They converted 76 percent of their second-half shots (19 of 25), a figure that was at 83 percent before reserve players missed the team's final two attempts.
 
Seattle Pacific outscored the Saints 50-28 during the final 20-minute session and produced a 15-7 advantage on the boards. SMU was limited to 39 percent shooting (10-26) after halftime.
 
Riley Stockton (Spokane, Wash./Ferris HS) compiled 16 points, five rebounds and five assists for SPU. Brendan Carroll added 10 points.
 
A former Falcon, Carel led the Saints with 13 points. He transferred to Saint Martin's prior to the 2013-14 season after playing as a freshman at SPU in 2012.
 
Ieronymides and Isaac Bianchini each tallied 10 points for the Saints, who dropped to 2-8 in GNAC play.
 
Seattle Pacific can move into first place with a win Saturday at 24th-ranked Western Oregon. The Wolves (16-4) won their last seven games since losing 83-76 on Jan. 1 in Seattle during this season's first meeting.
 
Thursday's 94-74 home victory over Montana State Billings improved WOU's first-place conference record to 8-2.
 
The Falcons are accustomed to being the pursued as they are the defending GNAC regular-season and tournament champions. But this weekend they are chasing Western Oregon.
 
Having frequently been in the role of favorite, Looney knows how difficult that position can be.
 
"It's always tough to be the team with the target on your back and that's how we're going to approach it Saturday. But having already won at our place early this year, we're going to get Western Oregon's best shot."


NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.

Seattle Pacific 84, at Saint Martin's 52

SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-4, 8-2 GNAC)
Penner 1-8 0-0 2, Hutsen 5-6 1-4 11, Carroll 3-3 2-2 10, Stockton 5-5 4-6 16, Borton 3-4 1-2 8, Reid 8-12 3-3 23, Swanson 3-6 0-0 7, Rasmussen 3-4 0-0 7, Poulsen 0-1 0-0 0, Morse 0-0 0-0 0, Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Simpson 0-1 0-0 0, Leavitt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-51 11-17 84.

SAINT MARTIN'S (5-15, 2-8 GNAC)
Ieronymides 5-7 0-0 10, Rogers 4-6 0-0 9, Ingram 2-6 0-0 6, Carel 4-12 2-2 13, Chatwi 0-3 0-0 0, Bianchini 4-5 0-0 10, Idowu 1-3 0-0 2, Copp 1-5 0-0 2, Counts,Brent 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 2-2 52.

Seattle Pacific..............   34   50  -  84
Saint Martin's...............   24   28 -   52

3-point goals--SPU 11-19 (Reid 4-6, Carroll 2-2, Stockton 2-2, Borton 1-1, Swanson 1-3, Rasmussen 1-1, Parker 0-1, Penner 0-3), SMU 8-18 (Carel 3-5, Bianchini 2-3, Ingram 2-5, Rogers 1-2, Chatwin 0-1, Copp 0-2). Fouled out--SPU-None, SMU-Counts. Rebounds--SPU 28 (Stockton, Borton 5), SMU 22 (Carel 4). Assists--SPU 20 (Stockton 5), SMU 8 (Ingram 3). Total fouls--SPU 11, SMU 17. Technical fouls--SPU-None, SMU-None. Att.-486.


Next Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon
Saturday, Jan. 31, 7:00 p.m. PST
New PE Building / Monmouth, Ore.