Box Score    |    Final Stats

LACEY, Wash. – Coleman Wooten poured in a career-high 35 points Tuesday, but it wasn't enough to prevent Seattle Pacific from losing its third straight game, a 93-80 setback versus Saint Martin's in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball clash at Marcus Pavilion.
 
The Falcons (7-10) fell to 3-6 in league play after completing a difficult stretch of three road games in six days without a win. They lost 89-85 on Thursday at Central Washington and 85-80 on Saturday at Northwest Nazarene.
 
SMU (9-7) snapped its own three-game losing skid, improving to 4-5 in GNAC games.
 
The Saints gained control of the game immediately after intermission. They broke a 37-37 halftime tie with a three-pointer by Jordan Kitchen 40 seconds into the period. That started a 9-2 run that was slowed only by two free throws from the Falcons Joe Ramussen.
 
A five-point Saints margin grew to 13 on the strength of eight unanswered points. Four different players scored during the surge that resulted in a 59-46 advantage with 11:51 left to play.
 
The closest SPU got after that was 72-65 with 4:49 remaining after Wooten made consecutive baskets, the second coming from behind the 3-point arc.
 
Saint Martin's responded with the next four points to turn back the late comeback bid.
 
Wooten (Tahoma HS) notched the Falcons final eight points, knocking down two 3-pointers and a layup during the final 30 seconds.

The 6-foot-5 sophomore forward hit 14 of 23 shots from the field, including 7-for-12 accuracy on treys. He was joined in double figures by Rasmussen with 19 points. Falcons' freshman Tony Miller (Woodinville HS) posted his league-leading eighth double-double with 10 points and a career-best haul of 14 rebounds.

 

SPU got back-to-back 30-point games from underclassmen. Miller preceded Wooten's scoring outburst with a 34-point performance on Saturday.
 
The injury-plagued Falcons played just seven men on Tuesday, four of them compiling more than 30 minutes. Gavin Long fouled out with 20 seconds remaining while Rasmussen and Olivier-Paul Betu finished the game with four fouls apiece.
 
Preston Cole paced six Saints in double digits with 19 points and scored his team's final eight points, all from the free throw line. Kitchen finished with 16 points, Trey Ingram and Tyler Copp each had 15, Fred Jorg had 11 and Rhett Baerlocher 10.
 
SMU outshot the Falcons by a slim 49 percent (33 of 68) to 45 percent (27 of 60) margin, but attempted eight more shots due to a 41-32 rebounding lead.
 
In the first half, SPU claimed a brief 8-6 lead six minutes into the game on a back-door layup by Wooten off a fine feed from Miller. The Saints netted the next eight points, surging to a 14-8 lead after Ingram's 3-pointer fell with 11:38 left until halftime.
 
The visitors battled back, gaining a 28-27 edge after back-to-back treys by Wooten. They soon trailed 33-30 before Miller flushed a one-handed dunk. That was the first basket of the game for the Falcons leading scorer on the season, who had missed his first eight shots.
 
The first-half finished with the teams locked in a 37-37 draw.
 
The SPU men return home on Saturday to start a three-game homestand. They host Montana State Billings at 4:30 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
 
at Saint Martin's 93, Seattle Pacific 80
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-10, 3-6 GNAC)
Wooten 14-23 0-4 35, Miller 3-13 4-5 10, Rasmussen 6-11 5-8 19, Betu 1-4 3-3 5, Long 2-6 5-8 9, Streufert 1-1 0-0 2, Khan 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 17-28 80.
 
SAINT MARTIN'S (9-7, 4-5 GNAC)
Kitchen 7-11 1-2 16, Jorg 5-6 1-2 11, Preston 4-6 9-10 19, Baerlocher 4-6 0-0 10, Copp 6-10 1-2 15, Ingram 4-15 5-6 15, Kenilvort 3-12 1-2 7, Adams 0-1 0-0 0, Lane 0-0 0-0 0, Ieronymides 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-68 18-24 93.
 
Seattle Pacific       37   43  -  80
Saint Martin's        37   56  -  93
 
3-point goals--SPU 9-22 (Wooten 7-12, Rasmussen 2-5, Long 0-1, Khan 0-1, Miller 0-3), SMU 9-23 (Copp 2-3, Baerlocher 2-3, Preston 2-3, Ingram 2-5, Kitchen 1-2, Adams 0-1, Kenilvort 0-6). Fouled out--SPU-Long, SMU-Copp. Rebounds--SPU 32 (Miller 14), SMU 41 (Kenilvort, Jorg 9). Assists--SPU 14 (Long, Betu, Miller 3), SMU 14 (Ingram 5). Total fouls--SPU 22, SMU 21. Technical fouls--SPU-Long, SMU-None. A-317.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Montana State Billings at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Jan. 21, 4:30 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.