• FINAL STATS  

SALT LAKE CITY – Dayon Goodman amassed 36 points Saturday, including the go-ahead basket with 58 seconds left in host Westminster's 83-77 victory over Seattle Pacific in the Thanksgiving Invitational men's basketball tournament at Behnken Field House.
 
The Falcons (4-2) had their four-game winning streak halted. They led for most of the second half, but were held scoreless over the final three minutes while surrendering 11 straight points.
 
Sophomore forward Tony Miller (Woodinville HS) tallied 14 of his 17 points during the second half, including a fastbreak layup off a feed from Coleman Wooten that provided a 77-72 SPU lead with 3:09 remaining.
 
Goodman sank two free throws on the next Westminster possession and then, after a missed Wooten free throw, evened the score on a 3-pointer with 1:38 showing on the clock. That started a game-closing run of four unanswered baskets without a miss for the Griffins.
 
With the score level at 77-77, the Falcons had the ball to inbound under their own basket. They committed a turnover, getting whistled with what seemed a quick five-second violation.
 
The ensuing possession saw Goodman put Westminster ahead for good followed by a free throw line jumper from Tanner Newbold at 0:18 and Quincy Bair's dunk with 3.5 seconds to play.
 
"We had a missed layup that was knocked out of bounds that then resulted in a five count," SPU coach Grant Leep described. "In that stretch we also missed the front end of two one-and-ones. We got ourselves to the free throw with guys that have done a good job for us, but we couldn't capitalize."
 
The Falcons drained 11 of their first 12 attempts from the charity stripe before missing their final five free throws. Three of those misses came on the front end on one-and-ones, negating the opportunity for a second shot each time.

 

Red-shirt freshman Harry Cavell came off the bench to produce a career-high 15 points for SPU and Nikhil Lizotte added 11. In Friday's 79-70 win over Dixie State, Lizotte tabulated all of his 20 points after halftime to fuel a second-half comeback.
 
Cavell joined the team last season as a walk-on and spent the entire season practicing while serving a red-shirt season. The 6-foot-6 guard from Keizer, Oregon was awarded a scholarship prior to this season.
 
"(Assistant) Coach Matt Borton has worked so hard with Harry in developing him and Harry has done such a great job to put himself in this position," said Leep. "His versatility brings us a lot. It was great to see Harry knock in a three tonight and get going there. His length and athleticism pose matchup problems for people and I can't wait for his future. His future is going to be a lot of fun to be a part of."
 
Bair joined Goodman in double-figures with 19 points. They teamed up to total 55 of 83 points for the Griffins (4-0), who remained undefeated.
 
Goodman hit 13 of 27 shots from the field, including 3-for-5 accuracy on treys, and converted all seven of his free throws. Bair was 8 for 11 from the field. Their combined 21-of-38 success from the floor helped Westminster shoot 52 percent (33 of 64) as a team.
 
"We played hard defensively in stretches and had some good communication in stretches, but it just wasn't sustained enough to play in a hostile environment on the road against a team that had two guys that were rolling a little bit," Leep said. "Goodman did a very good job of putting himself in positions where he could draw fouls and then he made his free throws. He hit a really big three down the stretch.
 
"There were times that our guys did a pretty good job and forced him to be in a tough position, and then we'd let him out of a bad spot or we'd bite on a shot fake and give him an angle to score. He's a good player and he did exactly what they needed him to do to win the game."
 
The Falcons shot 46 percent (28 of 61) behind Miller's 7-for-14 performance. They made 10 of 32 shots behind the arc.
 
The teams battled through a back-and-forth first half during which neither team led by more than four points. There were nine ties and 14 lead changes in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The hosts entered intermission with a 46-44 lead after Eris Winder made a driving layup as the horn sounded.
 
Goodman was dominant in the first half, accounting for half of the Griffins' scoring. The 6-foot-8 senior forward had 23 points on 6-for-14 shooting and made two of his three 3-point tries.
 
The SPU men start Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on the road next week. They visit Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday.
 
"That is a tough road trip. It's such a quick turnaround, flying into Boise and dealing with the time change and then turning right around and having a long bus ride on Saturday to Ellensburg," Leep said of next weekend's travel schedule. Those will be the third and fourth outings on SPU's current five-game road stretch.
 
"This is a tough way to start against two very good teams with us continuing to be on the road. As we grow as a team, learning to win on the road is one of those things that we have to get better at."
 
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
Westminster Thanksgiving Invitational
Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017
Behnken Field House / Salt Lake City, Utah
 
at Westminster 83, Seattle Pacific 77
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (4-2)
Wooten 1-5 0-2 2, Simpson 3-5 0-0 8, Miller 7-14 0-0 17, Lizotte 3-10 4-4 11, Long 3-6 2-4 8, Olsen 3-4 0-0 6, Khan 0-0 0-0 0, Cavell 5-11 3-3 1, Eisenhower 1-4 0-0 3, Streufert 2-2 2-4 7. Totals 28-61 11-17 77.
 
WESTMINSTER (4-0)
Goodman 13-27 7-7 36, Cook 3-5 0-0 6, Orchard 3-7 0-0 7, Bair 8-11 3-3 19, Laws 1-5 0-0 2, Smith 2-5 0-0 5, Winder 2-2 0-1 4, Newbold 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 33-64 12-13 83.
 
Seattle Pacific....... 44   33  -   77
Westminster........... 46   37  -   83
 
3-point goals—SPU 10-32 (Miller 3-8, Simpson 2-3, Cavell 2-5, Streufert 1-1, Eisenhower 1-4, Lizotte 1-6, Long 0-1, Olsen 0-1, Wooten 0-3), WC 5-12 (Goodman 3-5, Smith 1-1, Orchard 1-2, Bair 0-2, Laws 0-2). Fouled out--SPU-None, WC-None. Rebounds—SPU 37 (Wooten 6), WC 33 (Goodman 8). Assists—SPU 15 (Wooten 4), WC 18 (Newbold 7). Total fouls—SPU 17, WC 16. Technical fouls--SPU-None, WC-None.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
Thursday, Nov. 30, 6:00 p.m. PST
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho