Box Score    |   Final Stats

BILLLINGS, Mont. – The Falcons ruined the run of the hottest team in the league, enabling a few of their own impressive streaks to continue.
 
Most Valuable Player Cory Hutsen tallied 13 of his career-high 34 points early in the second half Saturday, leading Seattle Pacific to its third consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament men's basketball championship with an 81-68 victory over Western Washington at Alterowitz Gymnasium.
 
The second-seeded Falcons (23-7) secured the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. They earned their 11th consecutive playoff berth, the longest current streak among Division II men's basketball teams.
 
The Falcons entered the GNAC Tournament knowing they needed to win it to prolong that stretch of postseason appearances.
 
Ryan Looney, who coached SPU into the playoffs in each of his six seasons, was thrilled to sustain the streak.
 
"It's just huge for our program, not just our current players, but all of our alums out there that have done a great job keeping in touch and following our team. This NCAA Tournament streak is not only a special thing for us right now, but people who have been a part of it in the past too."

 

Hutsen's point production matched the No. 34 of his jersey to break the GNAC Tournament single-game scoring record of 32 points established in 2013 by Central Washington's Mark McLaughlin. Hutsen (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) hit 15 of 23 shots from the field and eclipsed his previous career-best output of 28 points.
 
"I felt like I had it rolling in the second half. I'm just glad I was able to do something help our team get this championship," said Hutsen who compiled 23 points after halftime.
 
"Every game now, especially as seniors, we're playing with a mindset that we just don't want our careers to end. So we are just leaving it all out there every time and we showed that tonight."
 
Junior Mitch Penner (Seattle, Wash./Kennedy HS) was the only other Falcon in double digits with 12 points. He completed his fifth double-double with 11 rebounds, sparking SPU's 36-22 advantage on the boards.

 

A 6-foot-8 senior center, Hutsen helped SPU quickly expand a 35-28 halftime lead, scoring 13 of his team's first 14 second-half points. Hutsen produced an eight-point run by himself as part of a stretch when he accounted for eight straight Falcons baskets. By the time Hutsen capped that run on a hook shot with 14:57 left to play, his team led 49-33.
 
"When we play Western Washington, it's turned into a huge rivalry over the years," Looney explained. "For us, when our five man delivers on the block we win and when he does not, we struggle. Cory knew that coming in. In a big, pressure situation he delivered for his teammates tonight."
 
SPU won its seventh straight game while stopping Western's 10-game streak of success. The Falcons advanced to the conference championship game by virtue of a 73-54 win over Northwest Nazarene in Friday's semifinals.
 
The No. 5 seed Vikings (20-11) lost to SPU for the third straight time in the GNAC Tournament final. They had swept this year's two regular-season meetings, winning 68-66 on Jan. 10 in Bellingham and 82-72 on Feb. 5 in Seattle.
 
WWU reached the GNAC final with a 76-56 quarterfinal win over No.4 seed Alaska Anchorage and an 88-79 victory over No.1 seed Western Oregon.
 
Ricardo Maxwell netted 13 points to pace Western, which also got 12 from Jeffrey Parker and 11 from Joey Schreiber.
 
The Vikings trailed by 18 points in the second half before Maxwell scored six points to spark a 13-6 surge that trimmed the deficit to 63-52 with 6:24 left to play.
 
SPU reeled off six of the game's next eight points to repel the rally and begin rebuilding the lead to as many as 19 points.
 
The Falcons shot 51 percent from the field (29 of 57) and nailed 4 of 9 treys while limiting WWU to 43-percent accuracy (23 of 54) and just 4 of 18 on 3-point tries.

 

Senior Riley Stockton (Spokane, Wash./Ferris HS) hit 2 of 4 treys to finish at 5-for-8 during the tournament.
 
In the first half, the teams traded baskets for the opening five minutes before SPU broke a 9-9 tie, taking the lead for good on a layup by Bryce Leavitt. Matt Borton followed with a layup to put the Falcons up 13-9 with 13:59 left in the first half.
 
That margin grew to a first-half high of 10 points on back-to-back baskets by Hutsen sandwiched around a free throw for a 29-19 lead with 5:11 on the clock.
 
Western drew within 31-26 on a 3-pointer by Schreiber at 1:11. After an exchange of baskets, the Falcons forged a 35-28 halftime margin on two free throws by Penner with 1.2 seconds remaining. He rebounded a miss by teammate Shawn Reid and was fouled while attempting a tip-in.
 
Seattle Pacific, which was already the only multiple title winner in the five-year history of the GNAC Tournament, now has two more championship trophies than any other school.
 
The SPU men won their initial conference tourney title in 2013, beating regular-season winner Western Washington 72-70 on a last-second 3-pointer by Jobi Wall.
 
They repeated as GNAC Tournament champions in 2014 with another victory over the Vikings, this time by a 65-62 count.
 
Looney wasn't shy about picking favorites when it came to his three tournament titles.
 
"In my years in coaching I don't know that I've ever been more proud of a team. We faced a lot of adversity. We even have multiple people trying to fight through injury right now playing. The level of toughness that this group has showed late in the year is amazing.
 
"We've had a lot of good teams and a lot of good players, but I don't know that we've ever had a group that played as hard as this group is right now."
 
The 64-team NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time via a live selection show that airs on the official NCAA website at the following address:  www.ncaa.com/sports/basketball-men/d2
 
The playoffs begin with first-round action on Friday. The West Region semifinals will be played Saturday and the regional championship game on Monday.
 
Looney likes his team's NCAA playoff prospects.
 
"We're playing our best right now at the most important time of the year. If this group plays with as much toughness as they have the last four weeks, I'd take our guys against anybody.


NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
GNAC Tournament – Championship Game
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.

Seattle Pacific 81, Western Washington 68

WESTERN WASHINGTON (20-11)
Turner 3-5 1-4 7, Parker 5-10 0-0 12, Johnson 2-4 2-2 6, Maxwell 6-16 1-2 13, Javier 2-5 4-4 8, Schreiber 3-5 3-4 11, Impero 2-5 5-7 9, Hopkins 0-2 2-2 2, Bowen 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 18-25 68.

SEATTLE PACIFIC (23-7)
Hutsen 15-23 4-8 34, Penner 3-6 5-7 12, Stockton 3-6 1-2 9, Borton 2-7 3-5 7, Reid 2-8 3-6 7, Leavitt 1-3 3-4 5, Rasmussen 1-1 0-0 3, Parker 1-2 0-2 2, Swanson,Garrett 1-1 0-0 2, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-57 19-34 81.

Western Washington.......   28   40  -   68
Seattle Pacific..........   35   46  -   81

3-point goals--WWU 4-18 (Parker 2-4, Schreiber 2-4, Javier 0-2, Johnson 0-1, Hopkins 0-1, Bowen 0-1, Impero 0-1, Maxwell 0-4), SPU 4-9 (Stockton 2-4, Penner 1-2, Rasmussen 1-1, Reid 0-2). Fouled out--WWU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--WWU 22 (Johnson 6), SPU 36 (Penner 11). Assists--WWU 7 (Javier 3), SPU 14 (Leavitt 6). Total fouls--WWU 22, SPU 19. Technical fouls--WWU-None, SPU-None. Att-512.


Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
NCAA Division II Tournament
March 13, 14 & 16
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