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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22 –
Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24 –
Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
• Webcast for both games: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe1iS12FsEzoRas8fmcWzaA/live
• LiveStats for both games: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball
 
The men's basketball regular season concludes this week with a pair of 7:30 p.m. home games in Brougham Pavilion for Seattle Pacific, which is battling for a berth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament. One win will put the Falcons (15-10, 10-8 GNAC) into the six-team field. SPU is tied for fourth place with Central Washington (15-10, 10-8) and they have identical overall and GNAC records. Those rivals square off on Thursday, Feb. 22 in Seattle. SPU escaped Ellensburg with an 84-83 overtime win over the Wildcats on Dec. 2. On Saturday, Feb. 24 Northwest Nazarene (12-12, 8-10) visits for the final regular-season game. SPU won 12 of the last 14 encounters with the Nighthawks.
 
So Long Seniors
The Feb. 24 game marks the final home appearance for two SPU seniors: Hunter Eisenhower and EJ Poulsen. In the five years since Poulsen arrived, the Falcons forged a 99-49 record with a conference regular-season championship, two GNAC Tournament titles and three NCAA playoff berths to their credit. Those seniors will be honored in a brief ceremony prior to Saturday's 7:30 p.m. tip-off at Brougham Pavilion.  


 
Get Your Tickets
Individual game tickets for SPU men's basketball games can be obtained at Brougham Pavilion (3414 Third Ave. W., Seattle 98119) on game day. Reserved seats for Falcon men's basketball are $10. General admission tickets are priced at $7 for adults and $4 for students and senior citizens.
 
Falcons Fast Fact
SPU has an 11-1 record when holding opponents under 80 points.
 
GNAC Tournament
For the eighth year, the GNAC is hosting a postseason tournament with the winner receiving the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II playoffs. The six highest finishers from the regular-season standings compete in the tournament with the top two receiving first-round byes. All games will be played at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage, Alaska. The quarterfinal contests are Mar. 1, the semifinals Mar. 2 and the championship game is set for Mar. 3 at 4:15 p.m. PST. Defending champion Western Washington, Western Oregon and Saint Martin's have already clinched spots with the other three still available. SPU won the GNAC Tournament in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
 
Playoff Pursuit
The Falcons (10-8) are tied for fourth place with Central Washington. Their simplest path to secure a GNAC Tournament berth is to win one more game. A loss by Northwest Nazarene on Thursday at Saint Martin's would also get them an invitation.
 
Sharp Shooters
When the Falcons shoot well, they win. They have a 12-0 record this season when shooting 50 percent or better and are 13-3 when posting a higher percentage from the field than foes. The SPU men are shooting 48.4 percent (703 of 1452) as a team. They hit 60.4-percent of their shots (32 of 53) in the Feb. 10 win at Concordia-Portland. Four Falcons are making more shots than they miss, led by the 59-percent accuracy (93 of 157) of Nathan Streufert.
 
Scouting Central Washington (15-10, 10-8 GNAC
> The Wildcats and SPU are tied for fourth place in the GNAC standings with identical 10-8 records. They also have matching 15-10 overall records.
 
> Central put together a six-game winning streak before losing two of its last three.
 
> A trio of players from Seattle's Rainier Beach High School lead CWU. Freshman Kalil Shabazz averages a team-high 15.3 points. GNAC Player of the Week Fuquan Niles, a senior center, leads the league with 70 blocks (2.8 bpg). He rejected 10 Concordia shots on Feb. 15. Junior Naim Ladd is the top returning point producer, scoring at a 13.5 clip in 2017.
 
> CWU leads the all-time series 74-55 despite losing 13 of the last 17 meetings. SPU was victorious in the last two encounters, winning 79-61 on Feb. 11, 2017 in Seattle and emerging with an 84-83 overtime decision on Dec. 2, 2017 in Ellensburg.
 
Scouting Northwest Nazarene (12-12, 8-10 GNAC)
> Located in Nampa, Idaho, NNU recently changed its nickname to Nighthawks (previously was Crusaders). Paul Rush is in his first season as head coach after serving three years as an assistant.
 
> Maurice Jones,  a 6-foot-5 senior forward, leads the Nighthawks with averages of 18.4 points and 9.0 rebounds. He was the only GNAC player to average a double-double last year (16.0 ppg & 10.4 rpg). Obi Megwa averages 18.3 points per game.
 
> The Falcons lead the series 58-24 and had won 11 consecutive encounters before losing two of the last three meetings, including a 103-91 loss on Nov. 30 in Nampa.

 

Super Soph
Gavin Long leads all active Falcons with a 12.2-point scoring average.  The 6-foot-5 sophomore guard poured in a career-high 26 points at Simon Fraser on Jan. 25, the top scoring game by an SPU player this season.  That eclipsed the 24-point performance Long produced in the season opener versus Sonoma State on Nov. 10. He ranks third on the team in both field goal accuracy (54.1%) and assists (47).
 
Terrific Transfer
Junior Nikhil Lizotte ranks fourth on the team with 9.6 points per game, including 12 double-figure performances. All of his SPU-high 20 points on Nov. 24 came after halftime. Lizotte joined the team after transferring from Humboldt State where he started all 29 games last season. 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.
 
Wonderful Wooten
Junior Coleman Wooten is on a hot streak. He surpassed the 20-point plateau in each of the last three outings, averaging 24 points during that span. He leads SPU in assists (78) and is second in rebounds (7.0 rpg) while scoring at an 11.6-point clip on 56-percent shooting accuracy. Wooten netted 19 of his season-high 26 points in the first half on Feb. 17 at MSU Billings. On Jan. 17, 2017 Wooten erupted for a career-high 35 points at Saint Martin's. The 6-foot-5 forward averaged 17.0 points and 8.0 rebounds while leading the Falcons with 72 assists last season. Wooten has 16 career games of 20 points or more and 13 double-digit rebounds games, collecting a career-high 16 caroms on Nov. 18, 2016.
 
Nate the Great
Junior Nathan Streufert has been a dominating presence on the boards, collecting 7.4 caroms per game to lead SPU. During his 18-point, 17-rebound performance versus Alaska Anchorage on Feb. 1 he outrebounded the rest of his teammates (17-14) and notched career-high marks in both points and boards. Streufert tops the team with four double-doubles and was the Falcons leader on the boards in 11 games. His father, Earl, is the boy's basketball coach at Richland (Wash.) High School.
 
Ailing Falcons
For the second straight season, a slew of injuries have depleted the SPU roster. Sharif Khan, Sam Simpson and Braden Olsen are sidelined for the season. Sophomore forward Tony Miller is out after undergoing shoulder injury. His brother, sophomore Trey Miller, has been limited to 10 games due to injury. Trey transferred from North Dakota State and was an injury red-shirt last season. That leaves 11 available players. The Falcons lost 74 combined games due to injury/illness this season. Gavin Long and Coleman Wooten are the only players to start all 25 games.
 
Missing Miller
Sophomore Tony Miller's is out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery in early February. He was sidelined the last 13 games. Miller's 18.0-point average leads SPU. Honored as the 2017 GNAC Freshman of the Year, he finished No. 11 nationally with 15 double-doubles while averaging 19.0 points and 9.7 rebounds.
 
Coach Leep
Grant Leep, 37, is in his second season directing the SPU men's basketball program after seven years as an assistant on the Falcons staff. He has a 27-26 career record. Leep coached the 2017 team to a 12-16 record, including an 8-10 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 Preview
A talented, young core featuring three returning starters joins a trio of productive regulars who are back from injuries that sidelined them last season. Four of the top-five scorers return, including the top-two point producers from a year ago. Tony Miller was honored as the 2017 GNAC Freshman of the Year after ranking No. 11 nationally with 15 double-doubles. He averaged 19.0 points and 9.7 rebounds. Coleman Wooten garnered All-GNAC honorable mention acclaim after averaging 17.0 points and 8.8 rebounds while leading the Falcons with 72 assists. Sophomore guard Gavin Long averaged 10.7 points while leading the team in field goal (60.1%) and 3-point (45.8%) percentage. The cast of remaining returnees is headlined by sharpshooters Sharif Khan and Hunter Eisenhower, along with junior post man Nathan Streufert. One transfer will vie for immediate playing time, Nikhil Lizotte, who averaged 13.8 points last year at Humboldt State. Guard Braden Olsen, from West Linn, Ore. is the lone freshman.
 
2017 Season Review
A challenging combination of injuries, youth and the absence of any returning starters hampered the SPU men in their first season under Coach Grant Leep. The Falcons completed the 2017 season with a 12-16 record, tying for ninth in the GNAC standings at 8-12. They had a 12-year playoff run halted, a figure that was the longest active streak among NCAA Division II men's basketball programs. Tony Miller was named the GNAC Freshman of the Year after leading the Falcons in points (19.0 ppg) and rebounds (9.7 rpg). Coleman Wooten was second on the team in both categories (17.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg) and was an honorable mention All-GNAC honoree.