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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18
Seattle Pacific at Concordia-Irvine, 2:00 p.m. PST
CU Arena / Irvine, Calif.
 
• Webcast & LiveStats:  https://portal.stretchinternet.com/cui/
 
A one-game trip to Southern California halts a 17-day break from men's basketball competition for Seattle Pacific and precedes the upcoming holiday hiatus. The Falcons (3-3) conclude the non-conference portion of their schedule with a clash at Concordia-Irvine (8-4) on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. That serves as a rubber match of sorts as the teams split two all-time meetings. SPU won the most recent encounter with a 79-56 victory over the Eagles on Nov. 17, 2017 in Seattle. That is the Falcons final contest of the 2018 calendar year. After Christmas, the SPU men begin preparations for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference road games, Jan. 3 at Western Washington and Jan. 5 at Simon Fraser. Their next home game is Thursday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. versus Alaska Fairbanks.
 
Falcons Fast Facts
Senior forward Coleman Wooten has 517 career rebounds and 906 points ... The Falcons held five of six foes under 48-percent and won all three games when shooting 50 percent themselves ... No SPU player has double-figure points in every game with Nikhil Lizotte and Gavin Long reaching double-digits five times apiece ... Coleman Wooten and junior Gavin Long were named to the 15-man Preseason All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference team and the Falcons were picked second in the coaches preseason poll ... Tony Miller, the 2017 GNAC Freshman of the Year, transferred to Montana in June. He averaged 18.0 points and 6.2 rebounds in 12 games last season.


 
2019 Season Preview
All five starters return from last season's 17-12 team, including the Falcons top-five point producers. Heading the list of returnees is senior forward Coleman Wooten, a second-team All-GNAC selection in 2018 after averaging 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds. Junior guard Gavin Long was an honorable mention all-league pick who averaged 11.9 points. That standout tandem is joined by three other returning starters; seniors Nikhil Lizotte and Nathan Streufert along with junior Gabe Colosimo. "This is the first time in my three years that we've had a really good mix of returning, experienced veterans, but then also some talented young players behind them," said third-year coach Grant Leep. Athletic sophomore Harry Cavell is back after drawing 10 starts in 2018. Two veteran returnees are back from injuries that sidelined them the majority of last year. Senior Sam Simpson is a stat sheet stuffer while sophomore Sharif Khan is a stellar sharpshooter. The lineup is bolstered by the addition of three talented newcomers; junior transfer Sam Boone from Lamar CC and freshmen Divant'e Moffitt and Jacob Medjo.
 
Last Action
SPU split two games at home to start the Great Northwest Athletic Conference campaign. Despite five double-figure scorers, led by 18 points from Nikhil Lizotte and 17 from Sam Simpson, the Falcons fell to undefeated Northwest Nazarene, 87-86, on Nov. 29. SPU led by eight with 13 minutes remaining before the undefeated Nighthawks rallied. Two nights later (Dec. 1), another five double-digit scorers led a 97-82 victory over Central Washington. Nathan Streufert and Gavin Long fueled the Falcons with 17 points apiece, shooting a combined 15-for-16 from the field. SPU shot 64 percent as a team (36 of 56).
 
Scouting Concordia-Irvine (8-4, 4-0 PacWest)
> Concordia is located in Irvine, California and is a former NAIA competitor now competing in the NCAA Division II and PacWest Conference.
 
> The Eagles won their last seven games and play at Fresno Pacific on Saturday (Dec. 15) before hosting SPU. Their stingy defense has not allowed 80 points to any opponent while yielding an average of just 67.8 per game.
 
> Senior guard Brian Chambers paces the CUI attack with 16.4 points and 3.8 assists per game.
 
> Coach Ken Ammann, a former standout player at Stanford, is in his 18th year at Concordia with a career record of 450-141.
 
> SPU and CUI met last season for just the second time ever with the Falcons notching a 79-56 home win on Nov. 17, 2017 behind stellar 56-percent (29 of 52) shooting. The first meeting, on Nov. 13, 2015 in St. George, Utah, resulted in a 68-60 overtime win for the Eagles.
 
Wonderful Wooten
Senior Coleman Wooten, who was named GNAC Player of the Week on Nov. 19, collected double-figure rebounds four times and averages 9.3 per game. He was recognized as a second-team All-GNAC honoree last season after being an honorable mention selection in 2017. In 2018, Wooten led SPU in assists with 83 (2.9 apg) and was second in rebounds (7.0 rpg) while scoring at an 11.0-point clip on 54-percent shooting accuracy. On Jan. 17, 2017 Wooten erupted for a career-high 35 points at Saint Martin's. The 6-foot-5 forward has 16 career games of 20 points or more and 18 double-digit rebounds games, including a career-high 16 boards on Nov. 18, 2016. The two-time Sodexo Classic MVP has 12 career double-doubles.
 
Super Students
Six student-athletes from this year's SPU team were 2018 All-GNAC Academic honorees, led by Sam Simpson with a 3.87 grade point in biochemistry. Nathan Streufert boasts a 3.76 GPA in physiology. The other academic all-stars are: Gabe Colosimo (3.49, psychology), Gavin Long (3.41, physiology), Conner Van Dyken (3.31, health) and Coleman Wooten (3.50, accounting).
 
Opening Weekend Cancelled
The Falcons were scheduled to start the 2018-19 season at the Mac Martin Invitational in Chico, California on Nov. 9 and 10. The team arrived in Chico on Nov. 8, but returned home that night due to the "Camp" wildfire. The tournament was cancelled and the games will not be made up.
 
Gavin the Great
Gavin Long leads the Falcons with a 15.0-point scoring average. The 6-foot-5 junior guard has been SPU's game-high scorer three times this season with 19-point performances against both Westminster (Nov. 16) and St. Cloud State (Nov. 23) and 17 versus Central Washington (Dec. 1). Long was a 2018 honorable mention All-GNAC selection. He is SPU's top returning scorer with an 11.9-point average. Long netted a career-high 26 points at Simon Fraser on Jan. 25, 2018, the top scoring game by a Falcon last season. Last year Long ranked second on the team in blocked shots (15) and third in both field goal accuracy (52.4%) and assists (53).

 

Carom Collector
Senior Nathan Streufert was a dominating presence on the boards last year, collecting 7.4 caroms per game to lead SPU. On Feb. 1 versus Alaska Anchorage, he out-rebounded the rest of his teammates by a 17-14 margin. Streufert grabbed 11 rebounds in this season's opening win over Westminster (Nov. 16). His father, Earl Streufert, is the boy's basketball coach at Richland (Wash.) High School.
 
Hot Lizotte
Senior Nikhil Lizotte started the second half on Nov. 17 with SPU trailing 30-28. He erupted for 19 points and hit 5-of-5 treys with four assists in 15 minutes to spark the win over Azusa Pacific. Lizotte led all SPU scorers with 17 points against Cal State San Bernardino (Nov. 24) and again on Dec. 1 versus Central Washington. He was fourth on the team with 9.8 points per game in 2018 with 13 double-digit efforts. Lizotte was the Falcons top free throw shooter at 86.9 percent (73-84). All of his SPU-high 20 points on Nov. 24, 2017 came after halftime. Lizotte transferred to SPU from Humboldt State where he started all 29 games in 2016-17. The 5-foot-9 guard led the Lumberjacks in 3-pointers (75) and was second in scoring (13.8 ppg). Lizotte is a graduate of Davis High School in Yakima, Wash.
 
Coach Leep
Grant Leep, 38, begins his third season directing the SPU men's basketball program after seven years as an assistant on the Falcons staff. He has a 32-31 career record. Leep coached the 2018 team to a 17-12 record, including an 11-9 GNAC mark. He has strong basketball ties throughout the Northwest as an All-America player at Mount Vernon (Wash.) High School before lettering four years at Washington. Leep still owns the Huskies 3-point accuracy records for a season (52.7% in 2002) and career (42.9%). His coaching resumé includes stops at Eastern Washington and a pair of community colleges. SPU had a 165-51 (.764) record during his time as an assistant.
 
2018 Season Review
The Falcons finished the 2017-18 season with a 17-12 record, tying for fourth in the standings at 11-9. They beat host Alaska Anchorage in the GNAC Tournament first round before a semifinal loss to Western Oregon. Coleman Wooten earned second-team All-GNAC honors and Gavin Long was honorable mention.
 
Postseason Pursuit
SPU seeks to return to the NCAA Division II Tournament after a two-year absence. Prior to that, the Falcons forged a run of 12 straight playoff berths, from 2005-2016, that was the longest active streak among Division II men's basketball teams. SPU advanced to the national semifinals in both 2000 and 2006, placing third both times.
 
GNAC Report
The league is loaded this season with only two teams sporting a losing ledger (Alaska Fairbanks, Concordia-Portland), while six have winning records and three sit at .500. Just two games into the GNAC season and eight teams already have a league victory. Three teams are undefeated in league play and five have matching 1-1 marks. SPU is seeking its sixth GNAC regular-season championship, but its first since 2014.