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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4 –
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 5:00 p.m. PST
New PE Building / Monmouth, Ore. -- ROOT SPORTS TV
• Webcast & LiveStats: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/spu/
 
Seattle Pacific (9-12, 5-8 GNAC) seeks to stop a five-game series losing streak against Western Oregon (12-9, 9-4) when they clash on Saturday, Feb. 4 in Monmouth, Ore. The game will be televised live at 5 p.m. from the New PE Building with Brad Adam and Francis Williams providing the commentary. SPU lost in its last three visits to Monmouth. Western Oregon won the last five meetings overall, three of them went into overtime and the other two were a one- and two-point decision. The two-time defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Wolves won this season's first meeting 76-74 on Jan. 5 in Seattle. They swept all three meetings in 2016, including a 58-57 decision over SPU in the GNAC Tournament semifinals on March 4 in Lacey, Wash. The last Falcons win in the series came on Jan. 1, 2015 in Seattle. The Wolves are in third place while SPU is two games out of the sixth-place position needed to qualify for the conference tournament.
 
Magnificent Miller
Falcons forward Tony Miller is the finest freshman in the conference this season. He leads all GNAC players, and ranks No. 10 nationally, with 11 double-doubles. Miller tops the league's freshmen and ranks No. 5 overall among GNAC scorers (18.0 ppg) and is No. 2 in rebounds (9.5 rpg). Miller poured in a career-high 34 points at Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 14, his second 30-point performance. The 6-foot-6 standout displayed his scoring prowess in his Oct. 29 collegiate debut with 28 points in an exhibition contest at Brigham Young. Miller paces SPU with 19 double-figure scoring games.


 
Thursday Recap
Latrell Wilson compiled seven of his 17 points during the decisive surge midway through the second half Thursday that saw Concordia take control for an 81-71 win over Seattle Pacific at Cavalier Court. The Falcons (9-12) lost their fourth straight road game. The Cavaliers beat SPU for the first time in seven all-time meetings. SPU owned a 53-50 lead before missing 13 consecutive shots, enabling the Cavaliers to go ahead for good with a 13-2 run sparked by Wilson's seven points. Tony Miller's two free throws were the only points for the Falcons, who went without a basket for 7 ½ minutes. Miller posted a 24-point, 12-rebound double-double and Coleman Wooten had 21 points.
 
Terrific Trio
Three players account for 62 percent of SPU's point production (1,042 of 1,673). Freshman Tony Miller scores at an 18.0-point clip to top the team, sophomore Coleman Wooten averages 17.5 points and senior Joe Rasmussen chips in 14.0.
 
Ailing Falcons
A slew of injuries have depleted the SPU roster. Sophomore Gabe Colosimo and junior Sam Simpson are sidelined for the season. Senior point guard Will Parker is out with an injured foot. Sophomore Nathan Streufert missed the first eight games. Sophomore transfer Trey Miller (North Dakota State) has not yet played due to injury. That leaves 11 available players (Harry Cavell is redshirting). Two of those players are averaging more than 30 minutes per game (Tony Miller and Coleman Wooten).
 
Coaching Change
Grant Leep is the 12th head coach in the 73-year history of the storied Seattle Pacific program that owns the longest active playoff streak among NCAA Division II men's basketball teams. The run of 12 consecutive tournament berths stretches back to 2005. Leep succeeds Ryan Looney who compiled a 165-51 record in seven seasons at SPU before departing for Point Loma Nazarene in San Diego, Calif.
 
Scouting Western Oregon (12-9, 9-4 GNAC)
> The Wolves won the last two GNAC regular-season titles (2015, 2016).
 
> WOU, which won its last four outings, is led by the 14.7-point average of Tanner Omlid, who erupted for 34 points in this season's first meeting with the Falcons. Ali Faruq-Bey averages 14.3 points. 
 
> SPU leads the all-time series 40-20 despite losing the last five encounters, three of them in overtime. WOU swept all three meetings in 2016 with a 96-90 overtime home win on Jan. 7, an 84-82 overtime road victory on Feb. 6 and a 58-57 decision on Mar.4 in the GNAC Tournament semifinals.  The Wolves were 76-74 victors earlier this year, Jan. 5 in Seattle. Still, the Falcons have won 19 of the last 27 meetings.
 
> Former Wolves All-American player, Jim Shaw, is in his second year as the WOU head coach after nine years as an assistant at Washington. He is 4-0 against SPU.

 

The Last Meeting
Tanner Omlid nailed 5 of 6 shots from 3-point range en route to a 34-point performance on Jan. 5, lifting Western Oregon to a 76-74 win over Seattle Pacific at Brougham Pavilion. The Falcons had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Coleman Wooten's 28-foot 3-point try caromed off the front rim. Omlid scored the Wolves' first nine points and later put together a string of 11 consecutive WOU points near the end. His trey with 2:18 left to play turned back a rally that saw the Falcons draw within 70-69 on a steal and layup by Olivier-Paul Betu, who seconds earlier had hit a 3-point basket. The triple by Omlid put WOU ahead 73-69. Following two free throws by the Falcons' Tony Miller, Omlid converted two from the line to keep the differential at four points. Will Parker nailed a trey with 43 seconds showing on the clock to bring the hosts within 75-74. Western's Ali Faruq-Bey set the final score by making the first of two free throws with 16.3 remaining. Joe Rasmussen compiled 18 of his team-high 20 points during the first half for SPU, which also got 19 from Miller and 10 from Gavin Long. Miller grabbed 10 boards to spark a 34-29 rebound margin. Parker dished a career-high eight assists, seven of them coming during the first half. Omlid shot 13 of 22 from the field. Faruq-Bey finished with 15 points for the Wolves, who defeated SPU for the fifth time in a row. WOU shot 50 percent (30 of 60) from the field, including 6-for-16 accuracy on 3-pointers, while limiting the Falcons to 40 percent (25 of 62) and 9-of-27 on treys. SPU led by as many as 10 points during the first half, before trailing by two at halftime.
 
Notable
Seven different players have led the Falcons in scoring in at least one game this season ... The Falcons projected starting lineup (Wooten-Miller-Rasmussen-Betu-Long) combined to start just five career games prior to this season led by Coleman Wooten's three ... SPU led the nation in rebound margin in 2016 for the second year in a row, collecting 11.7 more caroms per game than opponents ... Senior Joe Rasmussen's father Blair had an eight-year NBA career in Denver and Atlanta.
 
Fantastic Freshmen
True freshmen Tony Miller (379), Gavin Long (177) and Sharif Khan (114) account for 40 percent of SPU's scoring, combining for 670 points.

 

Super Soph
Sophomore forward Coleman Wooten erupted for a career-high 35 points at Saint Martin's on Jan. 17. He surpassed the 20-point mark 10 times this season. The 6-foot-5 forward has seven double-doubles and is averaging 17.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. He hauled in 10 or more rebounds in eight games with a career-high 16 on Nov. 18 versus Minnesota State. Wooten was named the MVP of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic (Nov. 11 & 12).
 
2017 Season Preview
You will need a roster to follow these Falcons. Along with a new coaching staff, helmed by former assistant Grant Leep, seven players will wear SPU maroon for the first time. The Falcons have some rebuilding to do, as all five primary starters were seniors from the 2015-16 squad that posted a 22-9 record. Five players return with some starting experience, but only one was in the opening lineup for more than four games last season. Leep must deal with the departure of five of the team's top-six scorers as 6-foot-8 senior center Joe Rasmussen is the top returning point producer with 6.1 per game in 2016. Also returning is senior point guard Will Parker who averaged 4.5 points and 1.5 assists while drawing 14 starts. Senior shooting guard Oliver-Paul Betu looks to have a more significant impact one year after transferring from UC Davis. Increased contributions are anticipated as forwards Sam Simpson and Coleman Wooten see increased playing time. A talented trio of local freshmen, in Sharif Khan (Bellevue HS) Gavin Long (Wenatchee HS) and Tony Miller (Woodinville HS), bolster a lineup that also features North Dakota State sophomore transfer Trey Miller.
 
2016 Season Review
The Falcons forged a 22-9 record last year in the seventh, and final, season under Coach Ryan Looney. They advanced to the GNAC Tournament semifinals before falling 58-57 against eventual champion Western Oregon. SPU participated in the NCAA playoffs for the 12th consecutive year, but suffered a 77-66 opening-round setback versus Azusa Pacific. The season featured lengthy winning streaks of nine and eight games. Senior forward Mitch Penner garnered first-team All-GNAC honors after topping the team with an 18.6-point average. Gillies Dierickx (11.4 ppg) earned second-team recognition and Bryce Leavitt (4.3 apg) was an honorable mention pick.
 
Coach Leep
Grant Leep, 36, assumes control of the SPU program in his first head coaching assignment after seven seasons as an assistant on the Falcons staff. He has a 9-12 record. Leep has strong basketball ties throughout the Northwest as an All-America player at Mount Vernon (Wash.) High School before lettering four years at the University of 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. The Falcons compiled a 165-51 (.764) record during Leep's time as an assistant coach. Two teams (2012, 2013) advanced to the West Regional championship game of the NCAA Division II Tournament. SPU twice won conference regular-season championships, in 2010 and 2014, and captured the GNAC Tournament title three consecutive years, from 2013-15.
 
Next Week
The Falcons close out their home slate with a three-game homestand. That hectic six-day stretch includes meetings with Northwest Nazarene (Feb. 9), Central Washington (Feb. 11) and Saint Martin's (Feb. 14).