Box Score    |   Final Stats

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Andy Avgi amassed 33 points Saturday for 24th-ranked Western Oregon, which solidified its first-place standing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball standings with a 94-84 double-overtime home win over second-place Seattle Pacific at the New PE Building.
 
The Falcons (16-5) could have forged a first-place tie with a win, but instead dropped to 8-3 in league play. They lost for just the second time in the last 12 outings.
 
"We did a lot of things good enough to win," said SPU coach Ryan Looney. "I'm proud of how hard we played. Just in two late-game situations we didn't make free throws."
 
The Wolves (18-3) improved to 10-1 in GNAC play with their lone loss being an 83-76 setback on Jan. 1 at Seattle Pacific in this season's first meeting.
 
WOU's Devon Alexander forced the initial overtime with a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer following two missed free throws by Matt Borton at the other end with 7.9 seconds left in regulation.
 
Neither team led by more than three in the first overtime. The Falcons' Mitch Penner sent the game into another five-minute session, converting the second of two free throws to tie the score 79-79 with 25.3 showing on the clock. WOU didn't get a shot off on its subsequent possession, instead turning the ball over.
 
"In all reality our guys did a good job through the first overtime," Looney described. "We got ourselves all the way to the point where we had the ball with 25 seconds left to take a one-point lead and we only went 1-of-2 from the free throw line."
 
Avgi hit a mid-range jumper 1:13 into the second overtime to put the Wolves ahead for good. Alexander followed with two free throws 33 seconds later, putting the hosts up 83-79. SPU's Penner, who scored 19 points, fouled out on that play and Borton drew his fifth foul the next time Western had the ball.

 

Senior center Cory Hutsen (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) tallied 18 points before fouling out with 2:32 left in the first overtime.
 
Entering the game, only three Falcons had fouled out in 20 outings this season. That number was matched Saturday as their three top scorers on the year were disqualified while none of the Wolves drew more than four fouls.
 
Riley Stockton (Spokane, Wash./Ferris HS) compiled 13 points and nine rebounds for SPU, which had a 42-32 advantage on the boards.
 
"Against the second-best rebounding team in the league we were still plus-10 on the glass," Looney exclaimed.
 
Avgi scored 22 points after halftime, including seven during the overtimes. He hit 11 of 20 attempts from the field and shot 10-for-11 from the free throw line.
 
Alexander finished with 20 points for the Wolves, who also got 18 from Julian Nichols and 10 from Jordan Wiley.
 
SPU led by as many as 11 points in the second half.

 

The Wolves drew within 40-38 on a layup by Nichols 3:12 after halftime. But they missed three shots and had a trio of turnovers in their next six possessions and SPU capitalized.  The Falcons went on a nine-point spree, capped by a three-point play by Stockton that built a 51-41 advantage with 11:47 remaining.
 
That lead held and when Penner hit the first of two free throws SPU had a 68-61 lead with 3:17 left in regulation.
 
But the Wolves outscored the visitors 11-4 during the final 2:25. They narrowed the deficit to 72-69 on a layup by Nichols with 10.6 seconds on the clock, leading to Borton's missed free throws and Alexander's heroics.
 
After shooting 50 percent (26 of 52) during regulation, the Falcons made just 3 of 11 shots in overtime to finish at 46 percent for the game.
 
WOU countered with 48 percent shooting (29 of 61) and hit 4 of 8 shots during the extra periods.
 
In the first half, SPU jumped out to an early lead. Penner, who was held to a season-low two points in Thursday's 84-52 win at Saint Martin's, tallied nine points during the opening 3:51 as his team went ahead 12-7.
 
That lead was 18-13 before the Wolves reeled off 11 unanswered points. Adam Hastings hit a jump hook with 9:14 left in the period to put them up 24-18. The run was made possible by the SPU offense that missed four straight shots and committed four turnovers during that span.
 
The Falcons immediately responded, scoring the next six points and clamping down defensively. They limited WOU to only one basket in 11 attempts during the final nine minutes of the half.
 
Western netted eight of its last 10 points from the free throw line and entered intermission trailing 38-34.

 

 "All of our guys battled. We're not at all disappointed with out effort or how had we played," said Looney. "They did a good job sharing the ball and lot of different guys had opportunities on the offensive end, we just didn't finish it."
 
The SPU men return home for a pair of GNAC games next week, beginning on Thursday at 7 p.m. against Western Washington. On Saturday they host Simon Fraser at 4 p.m. in the annual Homecoming game at Brougham Pavilion.
 
Those contests start a stretch where the Falcons play five of the final seven regular-season games at home.
 
"We are looking forward to it," Looney said of the homestand. "We've only played at home eight times in the last three months and now we're going to play five in the next few weeks. That's huge."
 
SPU has been outstanding at home this season, posting a 7-1 record in Brougham Pavilion.


NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015
New PE Building / Monmouth, Ore.

at #24 Western Oregon 94, Seattle Pacific 84 (2ot)

SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-5, 8-3 GNAC)
Penner 5-12 8-11 19, Hutsen 8-14 2-2 18, Stockton 4-7 4-5 13, Carroll 2-6 2-3 6, Borton 3-6 2-4 9, Reid 2-8 3-5 7, Rasmussen 3-7 0-0 7, Parker 2-3 0-0 5, Swanson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-63 21-30 84.

WESTERN OREGON (18-3, 10-1 GNAC)
Thomas 0-3 0-2 0, Avgi 11-20 10-11 33, Alexander 4-9 10-10 20, Nichols 6-10 6-7 18, Wiley 3-8 3-4 10, Sarhan 2-6 2-2 6, Dupree-Turner 2-3 0-0 5, Hastings 1-2 0-0 2, Schriber 0-0 0-0 0, Nestell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-61 31-36 94.

Seattle Pacific..........   38   34    7    5  -   84
Western Oregon...........   34   38    7   15  -   94

3-point goals--SPU 5-15 (Borton 1-2, Rasmussen 1-3, Stockton 1-3, Parker 1-2, Penner 1-3, Carroll 0-1, Reid 0-1), WOU 5-18 (Alexander 2-3, Wiley 1-3, Dupree-Turner 1-2, Avgi 1-3, Thomas 0-2, Hastings 0-1, Sarhan 0-1, Nichols 0-3). Fouled out--SPU-Hutsen, Borton, Penner, WOU-None. Rebounds--SPU 42 (Stockton 9), WOU 32 (Nichols 6). Assists--SPU 15 (Penner 5), WOU 18 (Nichols 6). Total fouls--SPU 27, WOU 22. Technical fouls--SPU-None, WOU-None. Att-808.


Next Men's Basketball Game
Western Washington at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Feb. 5, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.