• FINAL STATS

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Coach Grant Leep appreciates that his sophomore standout's skillset is long on simplicity and short on extravagance.
 
Gavin Long sank a free throw to force overtime and scored Seattle Pacific's final six points during the extra session Saturday to spark an 84-83 men's basketball victory over Central Washington at Nicholson Pavilion.
 
The Falcons (5-3) rallied from a 15-point deficit to even their Great Northwest Athletic Conference record at 1-1 after starting league play Thursday with a 103-91 setback at Northwest Nazarene.
 
"I just love how our guys responded," said SPU coach Grant Leep. "For our guys to come out and play like that in the second half after how we played on Thursday and then having the travel day with short prep to get ready for a good Central team, and then you add to that the way we played in the first half.
 
"Our guys came together and believed in each other in that second half. That's where we set the bar, where we're supposed to be. It was a really good team win and our guys just kept battling."
 
Four seconds after missing the potential go-ahead layup, Long forced overtime. Khalil Shabazz missed two free throws for Central, Long rebounded and dribbled the length of the floor before being fouled with four seconds showing on the clock. He converted the first free throw to set the final regulation score, 76-76, and missed the second.
 
The Wildcats (3-4) dropped to 0-2 in GNAC games. They led 81-78 after Malik Montoya hit the first of two free throws with 2:03 left in overtime. Long then scored on a layup at 1:48 and drained two free throws with 1:03 remaining for an 82-81 SPU edge.
 
Drew Rademacher pushed CWU back in front, 83-82, on a spinning move in the lane with 39 seconds left. Long answered with a driving layup in traffic for the final basket, with 25 seconds showing.
 
Central had a shot at the winning basket, but Jawan Stepney's 3-pointer from the left corner caromed off the back rim into the hands of Falcons center Nathan Streufert, who heaved the ball up the court to Harry Cavell to run out the clock.
 
A 6-foot-5 guard from Wenatchee (Wash.) High School, Long tallied 14 of his 17 points after halftime.
 
"I just love how simple Gavin's game is. He doesn't waste dribbles, he makes the right play, he plays hard and finishes so well around the basket," Leep described.
 
"For him to be able to stay engaged in what was going on and to be mentally tough enough to come through and make some big free throws, especially how the end of regulation finished for him, was really a big deal for us. Gavin just brings us so much."
 
Long was joined in the stellar second-half club by Tony Miller (Woodinville HS), who produced 20 of his 23 points in that period. A sophomore forward from Woodinville (Wash.) High School, Miller compiled 12 rapid points inside the opening five minutes of the second half.

 

"Tony caught fire in the second half from three," Leep exclaimed of Miller, who finished the night shooting 7-for-9 from the field. That figure included 6-for-7 accuracy on treys.
 
Sam Simpson added 10 points for the Falcons and Coleman Wooten led the team with 11 rebounds.
 
Rademacher came off the bench to score 18 points for the Wildcats, who also got 16 from reserve Sage Woodruff. Montoya had 12 points and Stepney 10.
 
Central raced out to a 10-3 lead, hitting 4 of its opening 5 shots. The margin was 12-6 before freshman Braden Olsen fueled a seven-point run to provide the Falcons' first lead.
 
After making a layup, Olson stole the ball and drove for a fastbreak basket. On the next offensive possession he found Cavell open for a 3-pointer that put the visitors up 13-12 with 14:14 left in the period.
 
The Wildcats immediately reclaimed the lead on a tip-in by Malcolm Cola that ignited a string of 11 unanswered points. Rademacher tallied six points to spark the surge that netted a 23-13 advantage 10:42 before halftime.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Long and Miller capped an eight-point spree that drew SPU within 25-23.
 
CWU scored the next seven points and, beginning with a four-point play by Jerome Bryant, compiled the final seven of the half to take a 43-30 margin into intermission.
 
SPU quickly erased a large deficit after the Wildcats opened the second half with a layup by Fuquan Niles that made the score 45-30.
 
SPU nailed its first-five treys in the second half, two of them from Simpson and three from Miller, to forge a 19-2 run that resulted in a 49-47 edge with 15:26 left in the second half.
 
"It was crazy how fast it came," Leep said of the rally. "The thing that I loved is, in the first timeout our guys were talking about how the comeback was because of our defense. If they buy into that, they are really on to something because when this team guards it has a chance to be pretty good."
 
Neither team led by more than five points the rest of the way and there were three ties and two lead changes during the final five minutes of regulation.
 
The SPU men now take 15 days off from competition, turning their attention to next week's final examinations, before returning to action on Dec. 18 in Turlock, Calif. They conclude the non-conference portion of the schedule at Stanislaus State.
 
"It's unique for us to have as much time off between games as we have right now. But we're going to use it purposefully and we'll be able to shore up some of our weaknesses and make some adjustments," said Leep.
 
"We're definitely going to take advantage of this break, but it comes at a strange time. It allows our guys to focus on their finals with finals week coming. It will allow us coaches to be a little bit creative in handling this layoff."
 
Seattle Pacific's next home game is Dec. 28 against GNAC rival Western Washington with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off in Brougham Pavilion.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 84, at Central Washington 83 (ot)
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (5-3, 1-1 GNAC)
Wooten 2-11 5-8 9, Simpson 4-6 0-1 10, Tony Miller 7-9 3-6 23, Lizotte 2-7 2-2 8, Long 6-12 4-6 17, Cavell 2-4 1-3 6, Streufert 1-5 2-2 4, Olsen 2-3 0-1 4, Colosimo 1-5 1-2 3, Trey Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-63 18-31 84.
 
CENTRAL WASHINGTON (3-4, 0-2 GNAC)
Stepney 3-10 3-4 10, Bryant 2-2 1-1 6, Niles 4-8 1-4 9, Shabazz 3-12 2-6 8, Montoya 4-6 1-3 12, Rademacher 7-14 4-5 18, Woodruff 6-13 0-0 16, Cola 2-4 0-0 4, Sparling 0-3 0-0 0, Williams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-73 12-23 83.
 
Seattle Pacific....... 30   46   8  -   84
Central Washington.... 43   33   7  -   83
 
3-point goals--SPU 12-26 (Tony Miller 6-7, Lizotte 2-5, Simpson 2-4, Long 1-2, Cavell 1-1, Colosimo 0-2, Olsen 0-1, Streufert 0-2, Wooten 0-2), CWU 9-22 (Woodruff 4-8, Montoya 3-5, Bryant 1-1, Stepney 1-3, Sparling 0-2, Shabazz 0-2, Rademacher 0-1). Fouled out--SPU-Tony Miller, CWU-None. Rebounds--SPU 44 (Wooten 11), CWU 49 (Rademacher 9). Assists--SPU 15 (Wooten 6), CWU 16 (Stepney 5). Total fouls--SPU 22, CWU 26. Technical fouls--SPU-None, CWU-None. A-1068.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Stanislaus State
Monday, Dec. 18, 7:00 p.m. PST
Fitzpatrick Arena / Turlock, Calif.