Box Score    |     VIDEO: Bryce  Leavitt

SEATTLE – Bryce Leavitt switched from floor general to the front lines of the attack.
 
The senior guard poured in a career-high 21 points on Saturday afternoon, topping five double-figure scorers for Seattle Pacific, which led the entire way to beat Hawaii-Hilo in the final game of the Sodexo Challenge men's basketball tournament in Brougham Pavilion, 86-73.
 
Leavitt was one of five players in double figures for the Falcons (3-1). He also handed out a team-leading four assists and was the lone SPU player named to the all-tournament team.
 
Mitch Penner (Kennedy HS) added 17 points, senior forward Garrett Swanson (Mead HS) had 16, junior guard Will Parker (Skyline HS) had 10, as did sophomore forward Sam Simpson (Boise, Idaho).


 
A transfer from North Idaho Junior College who previously played at Washington State, Leavitt came to SPU prior to last season and started at the point. With a wealth of point guards on the roster this year and a lack of depth at the shooting guard spot, he was moved. The results have been remarkable.
 
"Bryce Leavitt was really good this weekend," said SPU coach Ryan Looney. "He's doing some of the little things that former players like Riley Stockton and Matt Borton did for us in the past.
 
"He's starting to do all of the things that we've been asking him to do. Bryce has been in the system for a year and he's just much more comfortable with what we want."
 
Leavitt leads the team in rebounds (7.0 rpg) and assists (6.5 apg), ranks third in scoring (12.5 ppg) and is shooting 57 percent from the field (12 of 21).
 
He nailed 5 of 6 shots in Saturday's game to go with 10-of-14 accuracy from the free throw line.
 
SPU tallied the first 11 points of the game, getting scoring from five different players. Penner capped the game-opening spree on a layup with 16:58 left in the first half.
 
"We had a great start. Obviously offensively our guys did a really good job," Looney said.
 
"We thought there was a chance they were going to zone us defensively and they did. We spent some time in shoot around getting prepared for that and our guys did a nice job."
 
A senior forward, Penner did not play in Friday's 84-60 win over BYU-Hawaii while nursing an injury. The Falcons leading scorer on the season, senior guard Brendan Carroll (Brisbane, Australia), did not play in either game this weekend. He entered the week averaging 20.5 points per game before getting injured in practice.
 
"I'm just happy with all the adversity we faced this week to leave here 2-0 on the weekend," Looney said. "Up to this weekend we relied a lot offensively on Brendan Carroll and Mitch Penner.
 
"Mitch only played 21 minutes this weekend and Brendan didn't play at all, so other guys had to step up. From a coaching perspective I found out that there's a lot of different guys who can contribute on a lot of different levels."
 
The Vulcans (0-3) never came closer than six, cutting the lead to 14-8 with 13:50 left in the first half.
 
By the time they scored again, SPU was up 24-8.
 
The lead was 42-31 by halftime, and it dipped below double digits just once after that, when Hilo scored the first basket of the second half.
 
The Falcons shot a solid 55 percent from the field (27 of 49), including 62 percent (13 of 21) during the second half. They also dominated the boards, 38-22, as nine of the 10 players who saw action grabbed at least one rebound.

 

Leavitt collected eight caroms to lead the rebound effort and Swanson had seven.
 
Parker Farris led the Vulcans with 27 points and Patrick Ball added 18.
 
The Falcons take to the road for a preseason tournament next weekend, visiting Chico, Calif. for the Mac Martin Invitational. First up is host Chico State on Friday at 7:30 p.m., followed by Cal State East Bay on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
 
"We think that Chico State might be the best team on our schedule," said Looney. "So hopefully this week we can get healthy, get ourselves prepared and go see how we stack up."
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Sodexo Challenge
Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 86, Hawaii-Hilo 73
 
HAWAII-HILO (0-3)
Darius Johnson-Wilson 0-4 0-0 0, Nate Walker 1-4 2-2 4, Chris Holmes 3-5 0-0 6, Vandyon Lockett 3-9 0-0 7, Parker Farris 10-15 6-7 27, Jordan Russell 5-11 0-0 11, Patrick Ball 7-12 3-3 18, Randan Berinobis 0-1 0-0 0, Tolby Saito 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-61 11-12 73.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (3-1)
Sam Simpson 4-7 0-1 10, Garrett Swanson 6-10 2-2 16, Gilles Dierickx 3-5 0-0 7, Bryce Leavitt 5-6 1-2 21, Will Parker 3-8 1-3 10, Joe Rasmussen 0-1 0-0 0, Gabe Colosimo 1-3 0-1 3, Mitch Penner 4-8 9-11 17, Nathan Streufert 1-1 0-0 2, Oliver-Paul Betu 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-49 23-34 86.
 
Hawaii-Hilo        31    42   -- 73
Seattle Pacific    42    44   -- 86
 
3-point goals – UHH 4-22 (Walker 0-2, Holmes 0-1, Lockett 1-4, Farris 1-5, Russell 1-4, Ball 1-5, Berinobis 0-1), SPU 9-21 (Simpson 2-4, Swanson 2-4, Leavitt 1-2, Parker 3-7, Colosimo 1-3, Penner 0-1). Fouled out – UHH: Ball, Farris. Rebounds – UHH 22 (Walker 5), SPU 38 (Leavitt 8). Assists – UHH 8 (Ball 3), SPU 12 (Leavitt 4). Turnovers – UHH 8, SPU 9. Total fouls – UHH 21, SPU 13. Technical fouls – UHH: Farris. Attendance – 361.
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Mac Martin Invitational
Seattle Pacific at Chico State
Friday, Nov. 27, 7:30 p.m.
Acker Gymnasium / Chico, Calif.