Box Score    |    VIDEO: Mitch  Penner

SEATTLE – Prominent opponents have produced prolific performances from the Seattle Pacific men's basketball program.
 
Gilles Dierickx led all scorers with 19 points and tournament Most Valuable Player Mitch Penner added 16 on Saturday for 13th-ranked Seattle Pacific, which captured the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Classic championship with a 71-54 victory over Azusa Pacific at Brougham Pavilion.
 
The Falcons (9-1) were the only undefeated squad in the four-team tournament, including Friday's 76-64 win over Northwest University. They started slow in that game and didn't secure the outcome until the final five minutes.
 
"I'm glad the way our guys bounced back after last night," said SPU coach Ryan Looney. "One thing that has been impressive is that during big games, and we've played in a lot of them so far this year, our guys have shown up.
 
"The challenge for us right now is to make sure that the same group is showing up every day, regardless of the opponent."
 
The Falcons have already faced four teams that participated in last year's NCAA Division II Tournament. They won them all, by an average margin of 15 points.
 


Saturday's outcome extended SPU's current winning streak to nine games and completed the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-1 record against opponents from outside the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
Dierickx, a transfer from Washington, hit 6 of 12 shots and 7 of 10 free throws Saturday. The 7-foot center grabbed eight rebounds to lead SPU's 41-35 advantage on the boards.
 
"He was great," Looney exclaimed. "It might have been maybe his most complete game so far. He not only scored for us, but he gave a better effort defensively than he has all year."
 
Dierickx blocked four shots. He joined Penner on the all-tournament team along with Joey Schreiber of Azusa, Preston Beverly of Montana State Billings and Michael Dupree of Northwest University.

 

Penner, a product of Seattle's Kennedy High School, shot 4 of 8 from the field and 8 of 10 from the line. He compiled 30 points and 11 rebounds during the two-day Classic.
 
"In this game, and over the weekend, Mitch was a mismatch problem for our opponents," Looney explained. "We spread his minutes out, mainly at the three (small forward), but also used him a little bit at the four (power forward) based on what personnel the other team was playing. We tried to take advantage of what he does."
 
Azusa (7-3) got 13 points from Bruce English and 12 from Petar Kutlesic. The Cougars are the defending NCAA Division II West Region champions.
 
The Falcons did it with defense, limiting the visitors to 31-percent shooting (20 of 64), including just 4 of 27 from 3-point range.
 
SPU countered with 46-percent accuracy (23 of 50) and made 3 treys on just 10 tries.
 
Two of SPU's strong suits were on dynamic display Saturday. A national-leading 3-point defense was limiting foes to 22.6-percent shooting beyond the arc. That figure improved to 21.5 percent after holding the Cougars at 14.8 percent on treys.
 
The Falcons entered the game ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense, surrendering just 62.8 points per game. That figure dropped to 61.9 as they held their fourth opponent under 60 points.
 
"Our effort defensively was great. We really guarded, especially in the first half of the game," said Looney. "We had a detailed scouting report about how we wanted to guard and our guys really executed it."
 
APU missed its first six shots and the Falcons capitalized, racing to a 9-0 lead just over three minutes into the contest.
 
The Cougars first basket came at the 16:30 mark on a layup by English.
 
The hosts steadily increased the margin, getting back-to-back baskets on four occasions. When Will Parker drained two free throws and Brendan Carroll followed with a driving layup, SPU owned its largest lead of the half at 32-17 with 2:10 remaining. The margin was 34-22 at intermission.
 
Early in the second half the Falcons scored seven straight points to surge ahead 45-29. Azusa responded with five straight points, drawing within 45-34 with 13:18 remaining. But that is as close as the Cougars could come as SPU stretched the lead to as many as 19 points late in the game.
 
Montana State Billings beat Northwest 85-83 in the opener of Saturday's tournament doubleheader.
 
The SPU men take a break from competition for Christmas break before returning to action at home on Dec. 31. They host GNAC rival Alaska Anchorage at 4 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.

NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Oak Harbor Freight Lines Classic
Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
at (#13) Seattle Pacific 71, Azusa Pacific 54
 
AZUSA PACIFIC (7-3)
Langerveld 0-9 0-0 0, Kutlesic 4-7 4-4 12, Ward 2-7 0-0 4, English 5-10 0-1 13, Cardwell 4-14 1-1 9, Dyer 2-9 3-4 7, Schreiber 2-7 2-2 7, Byrd 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 20-64 10-12 54.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (9-1)
Penner 4-8 8-10 16, Swanson 2-5 2-3 8, Dierickx 6-12 7-10 19, Leavitt 5-7 1-3 11, Parker 1-5 4-4 7, Streufert 3-3 0-0 6, Carroll 2-8 0-1 4, Betu 0-0 0-2 0, Colosimo 0-0 0-0 0, Rasmussen 0-1 0-0 0, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0, Wooten 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 22-33 71.

Azusa Pacific        22     32    --    54
Seattle Pacific      34     37    --    71 

3-point goals--APU 4-27 (English 3-8, Schreiber 1-3, Cardwell 0-7, Dyer 0-1, Langerveld 0-6, Kutlesic 0-2), SPU 3-10 (Swanson 2-3, Parker 1-3, Carroll 0-3, Penner 0-1). Fouled out--APU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--APU 35 (Kutlesic 7), SPU 41 (Dierickx 8). Assists--APU 9 (Byrd, Kutlesic, Cardwell 2), SPU 12 (Carroll, Parker 3). Total fouls--APU 25, SPU 15. Technical fouls--APU-None, SPU-None. A-500.

All-Tournament Team: MVP-Mitch Penner (Seattle Pacific), Gilles Dierickx (Seattle Pacific), Joey Schreiber (Azusa Pacific), Preston Beverly (Montana State Billings), Michael Dupree (Northwest University).

 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Dec. 31, 4:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.