Box Score    |    Final Stats 

BURNABY, B.C. – Mitch Penner scored eight of his 13 points during the opening six minutes Thursday as 16th-ranked Seattle Pacific surged ahead early en route to an 89-55 men's basketball victory over Simon Fraser in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams at West Gym.
 
The Falcons (6-1) won their sixth straight game while SFU saw its losing streak extend to five.
 
Penner (Kennedy HS) started the game with a 3-pointer that was matched by the Clan's JJ Pankratz.
 
The visitors then reeled off 16 unanswered points, six of them coming on a pair of 3-pointers from Garrett Swanson (Mead HS). They converted five consecutive shots during the run, the initial three from 3-point range.
 
By the time Penner drained two free throws with 14:44 left in the first half, the Falcons owned a 19-3 advantage. They made 6 of 9 shots to that point while limiting Simon Fraser to 1-for-9 shooting.
 
A later 10-2 surge, capped by a Swanson put-back at 8:20, provided the largest first-half lead at 31-12.
 
Simon Fraser answered with three straight layups, helping them draw within 36-21 at halftime.
 
Oshea Gairey made a layup 40 seconds into the second half, bringing the Clan within 36-23. But they would get no closer than that 13-point margin the rest of the way.

 

The SPU reserves outscored the Clan bench 37-5 led by the game-high 18 points of Joe Rasmussen (Mercer Island HS). The 6-foot-8 junior center compiled 16 of those points after halftime. He nailed 6 of 8 shots, including all three of his 3-point tries.
 
Swanson added 15 points for the Falcons and Bryce Leavitt (Kennewick HS) had 10 to go along with eight rebounds. SPU dominated the glass, recording a 45-21 rebound margin.
 
Max Barkeley scored 18 points to lead the Clan, who also got 11 from Gairey.
 
The Falcons shot 52 percent (27 of 52) from the field, including a torrid 68 percent (15 of 22) during the second half. On the other end, they held Simon Fraser at 31 percent (17 of 55). The hosts made just 4 of 22 shots from behind the arc while allowing 12 of 28 accuracy on treys.
 
SPU stretched its lead to as many as 34 points late in the game on the strength of a 13-point spree. Hunter Eisenhower (Wasillia, Ak.) capped that run on a trey with 1:05 remaining, putting his team up 87-53.
 
The Falcons entered the game ranked 13th nationally in scoring defense, limiting teams to just 63.7 points per game. That figure dropped to 62.4 as they held their third straight opponent under 60 points.
 
The SPU men remain on the road to visit Western Washington on Saturday. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at the Whatcom Community College Pavilion in Bellingham. The Vikings are playing home games there while the on-campus arena, Carver Gymnasium, undergoes renovations.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015
West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
 
(#16) Seattle Pacific 89, Simon Fraser 55
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-1, 1-0 GNAC)
Penner 4-9 3-3 13, Swanson 6-9 0-0 15, Dierickx 3-3 1-2 7, Leavitt 3-4 4-4 10, Parker 2-8 2-2 7, Rasmussen 6-8 3-4 18, Carroll 1-5 5-6 8, Simpson 1-4 2-2 5, Eisenhower 1-1 0-0 3, Johnson 0-0 2-2 2, Streufert 0-1 1-2 1, Betu 0-0 0-0 0, Wooten 0-0 0-0 0, Poulsen 0-0 0-0 0, Colosimo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-52 23-27 89.
 
SIMON FRASER (1-6, 0-1 GNAC)
Pankratz 3-11 0-0 7, Lewin 3-6 0-0 6, Gairey 4-11 3-4 11, Barkeley 4-14 8-10 18, Harper 2-5 4-4 8, Vos 1-3 0-0 3, Smith 0-0 2-2 2, Sewani 0-2 0-0 0, Bakken 0-2 0-0 0, Williamson 0-1 0-2 0, Sparks-Guest 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-55 17-22 55.
 
Seattle Pacific    36    53   -- 89
Simon Fraser       21    34   -- 55
 
3-point goals--SPU 12-28 (Rasmussen 3-3, Swanson 3-5, Penner 2-3, Eisenhower 1-1, Carroll 1-3, Parker 1-7, Simpson 1-4, Streufert 0-1, Leavitt 0-1), SF 4-22 (Barkeley 2-11, Pankratz 1-4, Vos 1-2, Bakken 0-2, Harper 0-2, Gairey 0-1). Fouled out--SPU-None, SF-None. Rebounds--SPU 45 (Leavitt 8), SF 21 (Pankratz 5). Assists--SPU 18 (Parker, Leavitt 5), SF 7 (Harper 4). Total fouls--SPU 19, SF 17. Technical fouls--SPU-None, SF-None. A-225.
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Western Washington
Saturday, Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.
Whatcom CC Pavilion / Bellingham, Wash.