• GAME STATS   |   • VIDEO: COLEMAN  WOOTEN

SEATTLE – The toughest task Saturday night was determining which Falcon would receive the MVP award.
 
Tony Miller compiled 22 points and nine rebounds for Seattle Pacific, which routed Hawaii-Hilo 90-59 to capture the championship of the Sodexo Classic men's basketball tournament at Brougham Pavilion.
 
Miller hit 8 of 14 shots from the field, including 3-for-6 accuracy on 3-pointers. That helped the Falcons shoot 58 percent collectively (33 of 57) while holding Hilo at 38 percent (23 of 61).
 
"The thing that I really appreciate about where Tony is now from where he was a year ago is that he's just more willing to make the extra pass. He's more willing to make the right basketball play," SPU coach Grant Leep said of his 6-6 forward, who was the 2017 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year.
 
"A couple times tonight there may have been some shots that he would have taken a year ago, but the right play was to make that extra pass and he's been doing it. I know he's going to score, we need him and want him to do that. But I'm really impressed with the overall player that he's becoming more than just a scorer."
 


Miller would have been a contender for tournament honors, but foul trouble limited him to just two points on Friday.
 
Conversely, Gavin Long was held to two points Saturday after posting a team-high 13 in the opening round. Nathan Streufert had two points against Hilo following Friday's terrific all-around performance with eight points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a remarkable seven blocked shots.
 
Tournament honors could have gone to junior Nikhil Lizotte, a 5-9 guard who transferred from Humboldt State. He was the only Falcon to reach double-digits twice, accounting for 11 points both nights.
 
Sam Simpson tallied 14 points Saturday and did not miss in six tries from the field, two of them treys. He was named to the all-tournament team along with another SPU junior forward, Coleman Wooten, who received the Sodexo Classic Most Valuable Player award.
 
Wooten earned that honor for the second year in a row. In last season's Sodexo event he amassed 45 points in two outings.
 
"He's put up bigger scoring numbers before, but I don't know that he's played as good of a basketball game as he's played these last two nights," Leep said. "Coleman is showing such a better understanding of what it takes to be a good all-around player. He's making some really big strides and improvements on the defensive end. It's fun to be a part of the process of how he is improving so rapidly."
 
Wooten contributed 11 points, five rebounds and five assists on Saturday. For the two-day tournament, he totaled 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists while efficiently converting 8 of 9 shot attempts.
 
Joining the two Falcons on the all-tournament team were Fuquan Niles from Central Washington Brian Chambers from Concordia-Irvine and Hilo's Ryley Callaghan.
 
SPU (3-1) won its third straight game, including Friday's 79-56 victory over Concordia, and held every opponent under 60 points during the winning streak.
 
The Falcons forged a 39-24 halftime margin Saturday on the strength of a late surge.
 
They scored the game's first six points, and led 25-19 before reeling off eight straight points. Wooten tallied five points and Miller three during the run that netted a 33-19 advantage with 4:57 left until halftime.
 
The defense keyed the spree, forcing the Vulcans into a missed shot on four consecutive possessions.
 
After intermission the Falcons nailed 63-percent of their shots, converting 19 of 30 attempts from the field.
 
Lizotte drained a trio of 3-pointers during the opening six minutes of the second half as SPU stretched its lead the final 31-point cushion, its largest of the night.

 

All 12 Falcons that played scored at least two points. Sophomore guard Conner Van Dyken nailed a 3-pointer with 1:25 left to play for his first collegiate basket.
 
Injuries decimated an SPU roster that was already thin last season with the departure of all five regular starters. A total of 106 games were missed due to ailments and just one player started every game in 2017.
 
"After last year it takes a while to adjust to playing with all of this depth," Leep described. "It's really nice because it keeps guys fresh so they can play at their best for longer stretches. Then when we do go to our bench there is not a drop-off."
 
One night after tying the school record with 11 blocked shots, SPU did not register a rejection. They didn't need to as a stingy defense limited Hilo to 29-percent first-half shooting (9 of 31) and doubled the Vulcans total rebounding output, 42-21.
 
Devin Johnson was the only double-figure scorer for Hilo (1-4) with 10 points.
 
The other two teams in the tournament split their two games. Central Washington lost 65-60 to Concordia-Irvine on Saturday after defeating Hilo 84-79 on Friday.
 
The SPU men play their next five games on the road, starting with a two-game set next weekend at the Westminster Thanksgiving Invitational in Salt Lake City, Utah. They meet Dixie State on Friday at 4 p.m. before clashing with host Westminster on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
The Falcons' next home game is Dec. 28 against GNAC rival Western Washington. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Sodexo Classic
Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 90, Hawaii-Hilo 59
 
HAWAII-HILO (1-4)
Brooke 2-8 3-4 7, Berinobis 2-8 1-2 6, Wattree 2-8 0-0 5, Callaghan 2-5 0-0 6, Ingram 4-8 0-0 9, Johnson 4-9 2-4 10, Cain 4-6 0-0 8, Roffler 1-1 0-0 3, Howell 1-3 0-0 3, Burghardt 1-2 0-0 2, Canencia 0-0 0-0 0, Golden 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 6-10 59.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (3-1)
Simpson 6-6 0-0 14, Tony Miller 8-14 3-5 22, Wooten 4-5 2-3 11, Lizotte 4-7 0-0 11, Long 1-3 0-0 2, Cavell 1-3 6-8 8, Olsen 3-5 0-0 6, Eisenhower 2-6 0-0 5, Poulsen 2-4 0-0 4, Van Dyken 1-2 0-0 3, Trey Miller 1-1 0-0 2, Streufert 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 33-57 13-18 90.
 
Hawaii-Hilo   .........24   35  -   59
Seattle Pacific........39   51  -   90
 
3-point goals--UHH 7-21 (Callaghan 2-3, Berinobis 1-4, Ingram 1-3, Roffler 1-1, Wattree 1-3, Howell 1-3, Golden 0-3, Cain 0-1), SPU 11-22 (Tony Miller 3-6, Lizotte 3-5, Simpson 2-2, Van Dyken 1-2, Wooten 1-2, Eisenhower 1-5). Fouled out--UHH-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--UHH 21 (Johnson 4), SPU 42 (Tony Miller 9). Assists--UHH 14 (Callaghan, Ingram 3), SPU 20 (Olsen 6). Total fouls--UHH 14, SPU 11. Technical fouls--UHH-None, SPU-None. A-581.
 

All-Tournament Team
MVP-Coleman Wooten, Seattle Pacific
Sam Simpson, Seattle Pacific
Brian Chambers, Concordia-Irvine
Fuquan Niles, Central Washington
Ryley Callaghan, Hawaii-Hilo

Results
Friday, Nov. 17
Central Washington 84, Hawaii-Hilo 79
Seattle Pacific 79, Concordia-Irvine 56

Saturday, Nov. 18
Concordia-Irvine 65, Central Washington 60
Seattle Pacific 90, Hawaii-Hilo 59

 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Westminster Thanksgiving Invitational
Seattle Pacific vs. Dixie State
Friday, Nov. 24, 4:00 p.m. PST
Behnken Field House / Salt Lake City, Utah