• FINAL STATS

SEATTLE – Gavin Long led all scorers with 19 points for Seattle Pacific, which also got a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double from Coleman Wooten on Tuesday afternoon in a 76-59 men's basketball non-conference victory that halted Concordia-Irvine's eight-game winning streak.
 
The game at CU Arena was the last for the Falcons (4-3) outside of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. They posted a 3-2 record in non-league games, a schedule that was abbreviated by the absence of two season-opening games in Chico, California that were cancelled due to a wildfire.
 
The only other time SPU played away from home was a two-game tournament in San Diego, Calif. and both games were neutral-site encounters.
 
"This win is huge," SPU coach Grant Leep exclaimed. "Because of the way our season started with the tournament in Chico getting cancelled, this was our first true road game of the season. So it was nice to be in somebody else's gym just getting the feel for what that's going to be like. Obviously we've got some big tests in front of us in GNAC play."
 
"When we look back at the end of the year, this is going to be a great win for us. Concordia is going to win a lot of games in their league. They've already won five and are just going to continue to rack wins up."
 
The Eagles (9-5) had not lost since Nov. 10, reeling off eight straight wins by an average margin of 13 points since then.
 
SPU showed signs of rust at times after a 17-day layoff from competition. The first points didn't come until 2:48 into the game when Harry Cavell drained a 3-pointer.
 
The Falcons trailed by five points early before capturing the lead for good six minutes into the contest. A 13-point halftime advantage grew to as many as 20 points in the second half.
 
Long hit 7 of 11 shots from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. The junior guard also collected eight rebounds.
 
 

Cavell made all three of his treys en route to a 16-point performance  and Nikhil Lizotte added 11 points.
 
A senior forward, Wooten registered double-digit rebounds for the fifth time this season. He sparked his team's 34-28 lead on the boards.
 
Leep was thrilled to get contributions from so many different players.
 
"When Harry hit that first three, it kind of took the seal off the basket and that really helped our group gain some confidence. Then Gavin hits a three. Gavin played with great energy the entire game. Coleman did a lot of really good things on offense that don't necessarily show up in a boxscore. He's just so tough and physical, keeping balls alive.
 
"We scrapped really well and found a couple of effort baskets by keeping balls alive on the glass. When we started to execute and then you add on top of that we are playing really hard and finding some bonus baskets just by playing hard, then good things start to happen and energy picks up. Our defense was pretty consistent all the way through."
 
Seattle Pacific shot 52 percent (30 of 58), with 9-for-22 accuracy on 3-pointers, while holding the Eagles at 41 percent (21 of 51).
 
The Falcons limited high-scoring CUI guard Brian Chambers to 1-for-10 shooting and only five points. That is 11 below the 16.2-point average he brought into the game.
 
"Collectively our group did a good job. We made a big deal about his ability to score," said Leep. "In the games when we haven't played as well, it's always been because the leading scorer on the other team is really getting going.
 
"We wanted to make sure that we did a nice job of keeping Chambers under control. We did a really nice job of keeping him in front and making him shoot contested shots."
 
Robert Taylor paced the Eagles with 16 points and Kyle Gray had 10.
 
A sluggish start with just one basket in the opening eight possessions saw the Falcons face an 8-3 deficit. They made 1 of 6 shots and committed two turnovers during that span.
 
The early struggles may have derived from an extended break from games since SPU's 97-82 home victory over Central Washington on Dec. 1.
 
"I was a little bit concerned early, but on the flip side we were defending them pretty well and we hadn't had many breakdowns," Leep described. "Yes, we would have liked to have scored more and sooner, but the biggest lead they got was only five."
 
The Falcons quickly shook off the rust and rallied with a 15-2 run, getting their first 12 points on treys. Long fueled the run with eight points. He nailed consecutive 3-pointers and capped the spree with a driving layup that provided an 18-10 advantage with 10:58 left in the first half.
 
SPU survived another rough patch as five straight turnovers enabled the Eagles to draw within 18-16.

 

The Falcons margin was 26-22 before they closed the period with a 12-3 surge, getting five of those points from Sam Boone, to go into halftime with a 38-25 lead.
 
Concordia was without a 3-point basket in the first half despite seven attempts behind the arc.
 
The Eagles opened the second half with a 12-3 surge, capped by back-to-back treys from Gray. He closed the gap to 41-37 with 15:17 left to play.
 
SPU answered with consecutive 3-pointers of its own, from Wooten and Cavell, to stretch the margin back to double digits, at 47-37. That lead was never seriously threatened as Concordia didn't draw closer than seven points the rest of the way.
 
The last six shots of the game were successful for Seattle Pacific, by five different players. The visitors shared the ball as the stat sheet showed, crediting them with assists on 16 of their 30 baskets. Freshman point guard Divant'e Moffitt was the top playmaker with four assists.
 
The Falcons return to action on Jan. 3 in Bellingham with a 7 p.m. clash against GNAC rival Western Washington.
 
Their next Brougham Pavilion home game is Jan 10 at 7 p.m. versus Alaska Fairbanks.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018
CU Arena / Irvine, Calif.
 
Seattle Pacific 76, at Concordia-Irvine 59
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (4-3)
Wooten 5-7 1-1 12, Simpson 1-5 0-0 2, Cavell 6-12 1-1 16, Lizotte 4-9 2-2 11, Long 7-11 2-2 19, Khan 4-7 0-0 8, Boone 2-5 0-0 5, Moffitt 1-2 1-1 3, Van Dyken 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-58 9-22 76.
 
CONCORDIA-IRVINE (9-5)
Knuckles 2-6 0-1 4, Gerlach 2-6 0-0 4, Chambers 1-10 3-5 5, White 3-6 3-3 9, Taylor 6-10 2-3 16, Gray 2-3 4-4 10, English 4-7 0-4 8, Clarke 1-3 1-1 3. Totals 21-51 13-21 59.
 
Seattle Pacific.......38...38..--..76
Concordia-Irvine......25...34..--..59
 
3-point goals—SPU 9-22 (Cavell 3-3, Long 3-4, Boone 1-1, Wooten 1-2, Khan 0-3, Simpson 0-4), CUI 4-17 (Gray 2-2, Taylor 2-3, White 0-1, Clarke 0-2, Knuckles 0-3, Chambers 0-6). Fouled out—SPU-None, CUI-None. Rebounds—SPU 34 (Wooten 10), CUI 28 (Gray 8). Assists—SPU 16 (Moffitt 4), CUI 6 (Chambers 3). Total fouls—SPU 18, CUI 14. Technical fouls--SPU-None, CUI-None. A-71.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Western Washington
Thursday, Jan. 3, 7:00 p.m. PST
Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.