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Sodexo Classic / Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
• Webcast for all games: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/spu/  
• LiveStats for all games: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball
 
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17
Central Washington vs. Hawaii-Hilo, 4:30 p.m. PST
Concordia-Irvine vs. Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18
Central Washington vs. Concordia-Irvine, 5:00 p.m. PST
Hawaii-Hilo vs. Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST
 
Seattle Pacific (1-1) plays at home for the first time this season, hosting the four-team Sodexo Classic in Brougham Pavilion on Nov. 17 and Nov. 18. Men's basketball doubleheaders take place both days with SPU playing the 7 p.m. nightcap, against Concordia-Irvine (3-1) on Friday and Hawaii-Hilo (1-1) on Saturday. Central Washington (1-1) plays those same two teams in reverse order, meeting Hilo on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and Concordia at 5 p.m. Saturday. This is the second of three tournaments for the Falcons men, who visit Salt Lake City next week, Nov. 24-25, for the Westminster Thanksgiving Invitational.
 
Get Your Tickets
Season tickets for SPU men's basketball games are currently available. They are a tremendous value and assure a seat in the best location for every home game. Season tickets can be purchased at www.spufalcons.com or by calling 206-281-2393. Individual game tickets for SPU men's basketball games can be obtained at Brougham Pavilion (3414 Third Ave. W., Seattle 98119) on game day. Reserved seats for Falcon men's basketball are $10. General admission tickets are priced at $7 for adults and $4 for students and senior citizens. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates by calling 206-281-2393 in advance.


 
Sponsored by Sodexo
Seattle Pacific is grateful to Sodexo for annually sponsoring this tournament. Sodexo USA (www.sodexoUSA.com) is the leading provider of food and facilities management in the United States. The Sodexo Foundation is an independent charitable organization that is leading the fight against hunger by supporting initiatives that focus on eliminating the root causes of hunger in the U.S. -- www.helpstophunger.org
 
Falcons Fast Facts
SPU is shooting 48.1-percent from the field (52-108), while holding opponents at 37.5% (51-136) ... Three players made their debut in a Falcons uniform last weekend, junior transfer Nikhil Lizotte, red-shirt freshman Harry Cavell and freshman Braden Olsen ... Waiting to make his debut is Trey Miller, a transfer from Division I North Dakota State who sat out last season at SPU with an injury. He hopes to play alongside his brother, Tony, for the first time ... SPU returns nine players that started at least one game last season … The Falcons outrebounded exhibition foe Capilano University (North Vancouver, B.C.) by a commanding 60-25 margin in the 110-77 home win on Oct. 27.
 
Last Week
The Falcons split two games at the Pioneer Challenge in Hayward, California. Despite a 24-point performance from Gavin Long they lost 100-93 to Sonoma State (Nov. 10) in double overtime. Tony Miller contributed a 17-point 10-rebound double-double in that season-opener. Against host Cal State East Bay (Nov. 11) Hunter Eisenhower came off the bench to score 17 points, including 5-for-8 accuracy on 3-pointers, in a 70-59 victory for SPU. The Falcons shot 50 percent (19 of 38) and led wire-to-wire.
 
Scouting Concordia-Irvine (3-1)
> Concordia is located in Irvine, California and is a former NAIA competitor now competing in the NCAA Division II and PacWest Conference.
 
> The Eagles won their last three games, over Saint Leo, Chico State and Cal State San Marcos, and are averaging 82.0 points while shooting 50.8 percent (124 of 244).
 
> Senior guard JT Roach paces the CUI attack with 19.8 points per game and his senior backcourt mate Tad Dufelmeier averages 12.8.
 
> Coach Ken Ammann, a former standout player at Stanford, is in his 17th year at Concordia with a career record of 426-126.
 
> SPU and CUI met just once before, in the season-opener on Nov. 13, 2015 in St. George, Utah, and the Eagles were 68-60 overtime victors. Current Concordia senior JT Roach led all scorers in that game with 16 points.
 
Scouting Hawaii-Hilo (1-1 , pending Nov. 14 game at Saint Martin's)
> The Vulcans open the season facing five consecutuve GNAC opponents. They lost 87-75 to Simon Fraser before winning 80-76 at Western Washington.
 
> The Hilo roster includes six products of high schools in Washington state -- Will Burghardt (Mark Morris), Ryley Callaghan (South Kitsap), Cameron Howell (Curtis) Devin Johnson (Battle Ground), Jared Roffler (Mark Morris) and Eric Wattree III (South Kitsap).
 
> SPU owns a 12-6 series lead, including a pair of wins last season, 88-80 on Nov. 12 in Seattle and 72-66 on Dec. 16 in Hilo.
 
> The Vulcans are coached for the fourth year by former Central Washington assistant GE Coleman, who lost his only four meetings against the Falcons as a head coach.
 
Wonderful Wooten
Junior forward Coleman Wooten erupted for a career-high 35 points at Saint Martin's on Jan. 17, 2017. He surpassed the 20-point mark 11 times last season. The 6-foot-5 forward had seven double-doubles and averaged 17.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. He led the Falcons with 72 assists in 2017. Wooten hauled in 10 or more rebounds in eight games with a career-high 16 on Nov. 18 versus Minnesota State. He was named MVP of the 2016 Sodexo Tip-Off Classic (Nov. 11 & 12).
 
Dynamic Duo
Two players accounted for 43 percent of SPU's point production in 2017 (956 of 2,226) and both are back this season. Sophomore Tony Miller scored at a 19-point clip and junior Coleman Wooten averaged 17.0 points. They combined for 46 percent of the team's individual rebounds (469 of 1011), Miller with 9.7 per game and Wooten 8.0.
 
Magnificent Miller
SPU's Tony Miller was honored as the 2017 GNAC Freshman of the Year. He finished second among all GNAC players last season, and No. 11 nationally, with 15 double-doubles. Miller ranked No. 4 among GNAC scorers (19.0 ppg) and No. 3 in rebounds (9.7 rpg). Miller had three 30-point performances with a career-high 34 points at Northwest Nazarene (Jan. 14). The 6-foot-6 forward produced 28 points in his Oct. 29, 2016 collegiate debut, an exhibition at BYU. Miller paced SPU with 25 double-digit scoring games and 12 games of 20 points or more.

 

Terrific Transfer
Junior Nikhil Lizotte joins the Falcons after transferring from Humboldt State where he started all 29 games last season. The 5-foot-9 guard led the Lumberjacks in 3-pointers with 75 and ranked second in scoring with 13.8 points per game. He is a graduate of Davis High School in Yakima, Wash.
 
2018 Season Preview
A talented, young core featuring three returning starters joins a trio of productive regulars who are back from injuries that sidelined them last season. Four of the top-five scorers return, including the top-two point producers from a year ago. Tony Miller was honored as the 2017 GNAC Freshman of the Year after ranking No. 11 nationally with 15 double-doubles. The 6-foot-6 sophomore forward averaged 19.0 points and 9.7 rebounds last season. Coleman Wooten is a 6-foot-5 junior forward who garnered All-GNAC honorable mention acclaim. He averaged 17.0 points and 8.8 rebounds in 2017, ranking second on the team in both categories. Wooten led the Falcons with 72 assists. Sophomore guard Gavin Long average 10.7 points while leading the team in field goal (60.1%) and 3-point (45.8%) percentage. The cast of remaining returnees is headlined by sharpshooters Sharif Khan and Hunter Eisenhower, along with junior post man Nathan Streufert. A pair of transfers will vie for immediate playing time, Nikhil Lizotte, who averaged 13.8 points last year at Humboldt State, and 6-foot-11 Christian Russell from Oregon State. Guard Braden Olsen, from West Linn, Ore. is the lone freshman.
 
2017 Season Review
A challenging combination of injuries, youth and the absence of any returning starters hampered the SPU men in their first season under Coach Grant Leep. Key veterans Sam Simpson and Gabe Colosimo were sidelined with injuries along with North Dakota State transfer Trey Miller. The Falcons completed the 2017 season with a 12-16 record and tied for ninth in the GNAC standings with an 8-12 mark. They had a 12-year playoff run halted, a figure that was the longest active streak among NCAA Division II men's basketball programs. Forward Tony Miller was named the GNAC Freshman of the Year after leading the Falcons in both points (19.0 ppg) and rebounds (9.7 rpg). Coleman Wooten ranked second on the team in both categories (17.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg) and was an honorable mention All-GNAC honoree.
 
Coach Leep
Grant Leep, 37, is in his second season directing the SPU men's basketball program, his first head coaching assignment after seven years as an assistant on the Falcons staff. He coached the 2017 team to a 12-16 record, including an 8-10 GNAC mark. Leep has strong basketball ties throughout the Northwest as an All-America player at Mount Vernon (Wash.) High School before lettering four years at Washington. He still owns the Huskies 3-point accuracy records for a season (52.7% in 2002) and career (42.9%). Leep's coaching resumé includes stops at Eastern Washington and a pair of community colleges. SPU had a 165-51 (.764) record during his time as an assistant.
 
Next Week
The SPU men begin a five-game road trip with a pair of contests in Salt Lake City at the Westminster Thanksgiving Invitational. They meet Dixie State on Nov. 24 at 4 p.m. Pacific Time and Westminster on Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. PST.