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VIDEO: Will  Parker    |    VIDEO: Senior Night Ceremony

SEATTLE – The Falcons avoided a Valentine's Day Massacre, but didn't come away with a result they would like to embrace.
 
Seattle Pacific's Tony Miller poured in a game-high 33 points, but it wasn't enough to offset the five double-figure scorers of Saint Martin's, which took control late in the first half Tuesday and held on for an 80-77 win in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball contest.
 
The Falcons (11-14) lost for just the second time in their last seven home games, falling in their final appearance this season at Brougham Pavilion. They had an opportunity to draw level with SMU in the conference standings, but instead saw their record drop to 7-10.
 
Saint Martin's (15-10) improved to 9-8 in GNAC play behind the 17 points of Tyler Copp, seven of those coming during the pivotal stretch that saw the visitors stage a 19-3 run over the final nine minutes of the first half.


 
SPU nearly overcame a scoring drought that saw them miss 13 of their last 14 first-half shots en route to a 36-27 halftime deficit.
 
"We quit moving the ball as well as we had early in the first half. We did a bit of settling for some jumpers," first-year coach Grant Leep said of his Falcons, who produced only three points over their last 16 first-half possessions.
 
"We did a good job of attacking for most of the night, that shows by the amount of free throws we shot. When we attack the basket and the ball is moving and we're attacking in the right situations, we're pretty good on offense. But when we quit moving it and just stand and watch, it gets pretty difficult sometimes."
 
SPU converted 26 of 33 free throws to outscore its opponent by 15 points from the charity stripe.
 
It looked like the game would break open after the Saints staged an 8-2 run to gain their largest lead, 47-32, three minutes into the second half.
 
But the hosts discovered some success and steadily chipped away at the deficit. Three times they put together back-to-back baskets and closed within 60-55 on a three-point play by Nathan Streufert.
 
"We found some matchups that we thought we could exploit a little bit and we tried to move some guys around in different spots to see if we could get them clicking that way," Leep said of the keys to the second-half comeback.
 
"Gavin (Long) did a great job in the second half. Tony (Miller) was great all game for us. We were able to play a different lineup that we haven't done much and those guys battled and competed and they did a really good job."
 
Seattle Pacific trailed only 73-72 after Miller followed two free throws with a jumper at the 1:46 mark. But Fred Jorg responded with a layup on the next SMU possession.

 

Joe Rasmussen's layup with 1:15 remaining made it 76-74. Again the Saints answered, this time with a 3-pointer from Brandon Kenilvort to increase his team's margin to 78-74.
 
A layup by Miller brought SPU within two, but Copp converted two free throws with seven seconds remaining to preserve the victory.
 
Miller (Woodinville HS) registered his league-leading 13th double-double, grabbing 15 rebounds to go along with his third 30-point performance of the season.
 
Gavin Long (Wenatchee HS) added 14 points for the Falcons and Rasmussen (Mercer Island) had 13.
 
Preston Cole netted 16 points for SMU, which also got 15 from Kenilvort, 13 from Trey Ingram and 12 from Jordan Kitchen.
 
The Saints shot 48 percent (28 of 58), including 13-for-28 accuracy on treys. They limited SPU to 40 percent (23 of 57) and 5 of 18 behind the arc.
 
The Falcons were held to one basket and one free throw during the final nine minutes of the first half, enabling SMU to go on 19-3 burst. They had claimed their largest lead, 24-17, after Miller capped a run of seven straight points on a jumper with 9:11 on the clock.
 
SPU missed its next eight shots and turned the ball over twice, aiding the Saints surge to a 29-24 advantage on the strength of 12 unanswered points. Copp sparked the spree, scoring seven straight points.
 
Rasmussen grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball in to snap the scoring drought at 4:35. But SMU netted seven of the game's next eight points to forge a 36-27 halftime lead. They shot 48 percent (13 of 27) while holding the Falcons to 32-percent first-half accuracy (10 of 31).
 
Miller tallied 16 of the Falcons' 27 points before intermission and was credited with 6 of the 10 field goals.
 
SPU played without its second leading scorer (17.5 ppg) and rebounder (8.2 rpg) as sophomore Coleman Wooten (Tahoma HS) was sick.
 
"We missed him a lot, especially because the last two games have been his best two of the season," said Leep. "He's learning so much about what he can achieve as a player. This was just a tough night to not have him."
 
A slew of injuries have left the Falcons with just one player that has started every game, senior center Rasmussen. Eight of the 16 players on the roster missed at least one game due to injury, including three with season-ending setbacks.
 
Good news on the injury front came in the form of Will Parker, who has been sidelined since early January. He missed the last 11 games. Although still limited, the senior point guard was able to play 12 minutes and was able to start his final game at Brougham Pavilion.
 
"It was really great to get him back out there. Will did some really good things for us defensively," Leep described. "He's been our senior captain and leader all year long and we've really missed him while he's been out."
 
Parker and Rasmussen were joined by teammates Olivier-Paul Betu and Chris Bench in being honored with a pregame Senior Night ceremony. That quartet helped the Falcons register a remarkable 83-37 record during the last four seasons while making three NCAA Division II playoff appearances, capturing two GNAC Tournament title and winning one league regular-season championship.
 
"On Senior Night we wanted to make sure that we did everything that we could to send our seniors out the right way," Leep said. "We competed as hard as we could and fell just short."
 
The SPU men play their final three games on the road, beginning on Thursday at 4:15 p.m. Pacific Time against Montana State Billings. They close out the regular season next week, visiting Western Washington on Feb. 22 and Simon Fraser on Feb. 25.

 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Saint Martin's 80, at Seattle Pacific 77
 
SAINT MARTIN'S (15-10, 9-8 GNAC)
Preston 7-15 1-4 16, Kitchen 4-7 3-3 12, Jorg 2-4 0-0 4, Baerlocher 1-4 0-0 3, Copp 5-7 5-6 17, Kenilvort 5-14 0-2 15, Ingram 4-7 2-2 13, Lane 0-0 0-0 0, Ieronymides 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 11-17 80.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (11-14, 7-10 GNAC)
Miller 11-19 10-14 33, Long 2-6 10-10 14, Rasmussen 4-11 4-4 13, Eisenhower 2-4 0-0 6, Parker 0-3 0-0 0, Betu 2-7 1-2 5, Streufert 2-4 1-3 6, Khan 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 26-33 77.
 
Saint Martin's.........36   44  --  80
Seattle Pacific........27   50  --  77
 
3-point goals--SMU 13-28 (Kenilvort 5-12, Ingram 3-5, Copp 2-3, Kitchen 1-2, Preston 1-4, Baerlocher 1-2), SPU 5-18 (Eisenhower 2-4, Miller 1-4, Rasmussen 1-4, Streufert 1-2, Khan 0-2, Betu 0-2). Fouled out--SMU-Kitchen, Baerlocher, SPU-None. Rebounds--SMU 34 (Kenilvort 7), SPU 36 (Miller 15). Assists--SMU 12 (Preston 6), SPU 14 (Streufert, Long 4). Total fouls--SMU 24, SPU 12. Technical fouls--SMU-None,
SPU-None. A-378.
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings
Thursday, Feb. 16, 4:15 p.m. PST
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.