Box Score

        Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
SEATTLE – A double-digit scoring run is a timely thing, no matter when it happens.
 
But Seattle Pacific men's basketball coach Grant Leep was particularly pleased with the timing of this one.
 
Coleman Wooten scored a career-high 27 points on Saturday night – getting Nos. 26 and 27 at the free throw line with 35.8 seconds left – and SPU, thanks to a 20-0 surge early in the second half, had enough of a lead to fend off a big comeback by Concordia-Portland and win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game in Brougham Pavilion, 88-83.
 
Sophomore forward Wooten (Maple Valley, Wash. / Tahoma HS) beat his previous career high of 26, set in a 102-90 season-opening victory in against Humboldt State in Brougham on Nov. 11.
 




The Falcons (7-7, 3-3 GNAC) were up by just two points early in the third quarter at 36-34. But in the next 6 minutes and 49 seconds, they put those 20 straight points on the board, easily beating their previous season-high run of 13.

"Multiple times, we've been able to go on an extended run. The problem has been that it has come when we're down six or eight," Leep said. "So we challenged the guys to have our run when we're up three or four or five, and see how we can extend it from that point. They did a great job."

 

Wooten had seven of the 20 points. Senior center Joe Rasmussen (Mercer Island, Wash. / Mercer Island HS) contributed five and finished the game with 22. Freshman forward Tony Miller (Bothell, Wash. / Woodinville HS), who finished with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, chipped in six, and freshman guard Gavin Long (Wenatchee, Wash. / Wenatchee HS) added two.
 
During that time, Concordia (6-7, 2-4 GNAC) went 0-for-10 from the field (including an attempted dunk), missed two free throws, and turned the ball over four times.
 
"Our offense starts with our defense," said Wooten, who also had nine rebounds, coming within one board of his seventh double-double of the year. "That energizes us. We have a ton of guys who can get in the paint and make stuff happen."
 
After finally ending the drought on a free throw by Jarrett Gray with 12:22 remaining, the Cavaliers rang up nine in a row, on the way to 49 points in the final 12 minutes. They finally got the margin to single digits at 79-71 with 58.8 seconds left.
 
SPU's lead was down to 86-83 after Concordia's Drew Martin drained a 3-pointer with five seconds left. But Falcons freshman Sharif Khan (Bellevue, Wash. / Bellevue HS) drained two free throws at the 2.7-second mark, returning it to a two-possession game and not enough time for the Cavaliers to come any closer.
 
During the last two minutes of the game, Seattle Pacific got its last 10 points at the line, hitting 10 of 14.

 

"Concordia did a good job of making some 3's (seven during the final 12 minutes). When you get hot at the arc, that helps loosen some things up," Leep said. "But our guys showed some resiliency, as they have all year. At the end of the game, we had three freshmen and a sophomore on the floor. So to get the ball inbounds, get fouled, knock in some free throws, and be able to keep the lead – that was huge."
 
Wooten hit 8 of 15 from the field, including all three of his 3-point tries, and was 8 of 10 at the line.
 
Rasmussen also was hot from downtown, nailing 4 of 5, and grabbing eight boards.
 
The Falcons shot 46.4 percent from the floor (26 of 56) and dominated the glass, 46-31.
 
Martin led Concordia with 23 points.
 
Seattle Pacific takes to the road for three games in six nights, beginning on Thursday with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at Central Washington in Ellensburg.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 88, Concordia-Portland 83
 
CONCORDIA-PORTLAND (6-7, 2-4 GNAC)
Bryan Michaels 7-13 1-2 18, Christopher Edward 2-10 0-2 4, Drew Martin 9-18 2-2 23, Latrell Wilson 5-7 3-4 14, Jarrett Gray 2-7 2-2 7, Jace Cates 0-0 0-0 0, Davis Nuaimi 4-11 2-2 11, Dennis Ahana 1-1 0-0 2, Taylor Harris 1-6 0-0 2, Tre' Vance 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 32-75 10-14 83.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-7, 3-3 GNAC)
Coleman Wooten 8-15 8-10 27, Tony Miller 3-10 7-9 13, Joe Rasmussen 8-13 2-4 22, Olivier-Paul Betu 2-4 6-8 10, Gavin Long 4-6 3-6 11, Sharif Khan 1-5 3-4 5, Nathan Streufert 0-1 0-0 0, Hunter Eisenhower 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 29-41 88.
 
Concordia-Portland           32           51           -- 83
Seattle Pacific                     34           54           -- 88
 
3-point goals – CU 9-19 (Michaels 3-6 Martin 3-6, Wilson 1-2, Gray 1-1, Nuaimi 1-3, Harris 0-1), SPU 7-13 (Wooten 3-3, Miller 0-1, Rasmussen 4-5, Long 0-1, Khan 0-1, Eisenhower 0-2). Fouled out – CU: Nuaimi. Rebounds – CU 31 (Edward 6), SPU 46 (Miller 11). Assists – CU 18 (Michaels 5, Martin 5), SPU 9 (Betu 7). Turnovers – CU 9, SPU 15. Total fouls – CU 29, SPU 16. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 284.
 
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
Thursday, Jan. 12     7:00 p.m.
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.