• FINAL STATS    |    • VIDEO: GAVIN  LONG
• PHOTO GALLERY

SEATTLE – Gavin Long tallied 19 points to lead four double-figure scorers for Seattle Pacific, which started the season Friday with an 81-72 victory over Westminster on the first day of the Sodexo Classic men's basketball tournament at Brougham Pavilion.
 
The season opener was delayed for the Falcons (1-0), who were supposed to start with two outings last weekend in Chico, California. Those games were canceled due to the wildfire in Northern California.
 
The last time SPU hit the hardwood for a game was two weeks ago in a 70-61 exhibition loss at 25th-ranked Washington.
 
"This group was just so ready to play. With getting our games canceled last weekend we hadn't played since November first so we were just really excited to play," exclaimed Grant Leep, who begins his third season as the Falcons head coach.
 
"With that comes a lot of that energy that you have to channel the right way. Our start was just okay, but we found a good groove midway through the first half."
 
The hosts trailed 27-24 before six different Falcons scored during the decisive 15-point run that started with a three-point play by Nathan Streufert with 5:35 left in the first half.
 
"Nate got an and-one to tie it at 27 and then we had a nice spurt there that we really kind of kept the rest of the game," Leep said. "I don't think by any means that we were at our best, but that's a very well-coached, hard-playing Westminster team that just would not go away."
 
Sam Simpson followed Streufert's old-fashioned three-point play with a 3-point shot.
 
Next came a driving layup, by Nikhil Lizotte, who eventually capped the surge on two free throws with 2:20 showing on the clock and SPU ahead 39-27.
 
The teams traded baskets the rest of the period and Coleman Wooten's layup with 1.9 seconds remaining provided a 47-33 halftime advantage for the Falcons.


 
SPU shot a stellar 58 percent during the first half, hitting 18 of 31 shots. That included 6-for-11 accuracy on 3-pointers. The Griffins were held to 42 percent (14 of 33) from the floor and just 4-for-12 on treys.
 
Long drained 8 of 13 shots from the field in 28 minutes of action. Gabe Colosimo netted 12 of his 18 points from long range, making 4 of 5 attempts beyond the arc.
 
Streufert recorded a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Falcons, who also got 11 points from Simpson.
 
Wooten, a senior forward, led all rebounders with 12, sparking SPU's 40-30 domination on the boards.
 
"We just hadn't played, we were rusty," said Leep. "But our kids battled, they played really hard. We were plus-10 on the glass, we outscored them by 20 in the paint and we had four guys in double figures."
 
The Falcons were on the positive end of a 42-22 margin for points in the paint. They finished at 52-percent shooting for the game (29 of 56) and made 8 of 20 treys.
 
Westminster (0-1) shot 42 percent (28 of 66) and was 9-for-23 on 3-point tries.
 
Brandon Warr paced the Griffins with 17 points, Jacob McCord had 14 and Jake Connor 12.
 
Warr made consecutive treys at the end to draw Westminster within 77-71 with 23.1 seconds left to play.
 
Colosimo responded one second later with two free throws and Streufert secured the result by converting a pair with 13.7 seconds remaining.

 

Two student-athletes made their debuts Friday in a Falcons uniform. Junior forward Sam Boone, a transfer from Lamar (Colo.) Community College, compiled two points and two rebounds in six minutes. Freshman point guard Divant'e Moffitt, a product of Spanaway Lake (Wash.) High School, had one assist and one rebound in eight minutes.

SPU started the game with a quick 9-2 lead on the strength of a six-point run, the first four from Streufert. The visitors put up four consecutive errant attempts during that span.
 
The Griffins missed four of their first five shots, but heated up after that. They hit six of their next seven to forge a 15-5 run. When Jai Jai Ely nailed a 3-pointer with 12:47 left in the first quarter, Westminster led 17-14.
 
That margin never grew more than three points before SPU staged its pivotal first-half spree.
 
After having the start of the season postponed and waiting so long to play their initial game, the Falcons second contest starts less than 24 hours after the first one ended.
 
The Sodexo Classic concludes Saturday in Brougham Pavilion, beginning at 3 p.m. with Westminster playing Central Washington. The SPU men clash with Azusa Pacific at 7 p.m.
 
"That's where I love how deep this group is. We didn't have to play too long of minutes to too many guys tonight with just one guy at 30 minutes," Leep explained. "Hopefully that will help us to recover quicker. Then we are going to get something from the bench again after getting 18 points from them tonight."
 
Central defeated Azusa 85-80 in Friday's opening game of the men's tournament.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Sodexo Classic
Friday, Nov. 16, 2018
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 81, Westminster 72
 
WESTMINSTER (0-1)
Tahvanainen 4-8 1-2 9, McCord 6-16 2-2 14, Warr 6-14 0-0 17, Connor 5-10 0-0 12, Ely 2-6 1-2 6, Devashrayee 2-5 0-0 5, Dow 2-2 0-0 4, Walljasper 0-1 3-3 3, Monson 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 28-66 7-9 72.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (1-0)
Wooten 3-9 1-3 7, Streufert 6-7 4-4 16, Cavell 1-4 0-0 3, Colosimo 6-10 2-2 18, Long 8-13 2-4 19, Simpson 3-3 3-4 11, Lizotte 1-5 2-2 4, Boone 1-1 0-0 2, Khan 0-3 1-2 1, Moffitt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-56 15-21 81.
 
Westminster   .........35   37  -   72
Seattle Pacific........47   34  -   81
 
3-point goals--WC 9-23 (Warr 5-8, Connor 2-5, Devashrayee 1-4, Ely 1-4, Monson 0-2), SPU 8-20 (Colosimo 4-5, Simpson 2-2, Cavell 1-2, Long 1-3, Khan 0-3, Lizotte 0-3, Wooten 0-2). Fouled out--WC-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--WC 30 (Warr 9), SPU 40 (Wooten 12). Assists--WC 17 (McCord 5), SPU 12 (Lizotte, Simpson, Cavell 3). Total fouls—WC 18, SPU 11. Technical fouls--WC-None, SPU-None. A-512.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Sodexo Classic
Azusa Pacific at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Nov. 17, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.