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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8 –
Seattle Pacific at (#4) Western Oregon, 7:30 p.m. PST
New PE Building / Monmouth, Ore.
 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10 –
Seattle Pacific at Concordia (Ore.), 7:30 p.m. PST
Cavalier Court / Portland, Ore.
 
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13 –
Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 7:00 p.m. PST
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17 –
Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings, 4:15 p.m. PST (5:15 MST)
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
 
• Webcast & LiveStats for all four games: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/spu/
 
The long and winding road takes the Seattle Pacific men's basketball team to Oregon, Lacey, Washington and Montana. The first stop on the tour will be the toughest as the fourth-place Falcons (13-8, 8-6 GNAC) visit Monmouth on Thursday, Feb. 8 to meet fourth-ranked Western Oregon (21-1, 13-1) at 7:30 p.m. The league-leading Wolves won their last 14 games and were victorious in their last seven encounters with SPU. On Saturday, Feb. 10 the Falcons are in Portland to play Concordia (4-18, 0-14) at 7:30 p.m. They won six of seven all-time meetings with the Cavaliers, including a tight 74-72 decision on Jan. 11 in Seattle. Next week SPU clashes with third-place Saint Martin's (17-5, 10-4)on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. The Saints won the last four meetings with the Falcons. The four-game road trip concludes on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 4:15 p.m. PST (5:15 MST) at Montana State Billings (12-13, 4-10). SPU won seven straight over the Yellowjackets.
 
Ranked Result
SPU's last victory over a top-five ranked opponent was a 72-70 win over No. 2 Western Washington on March 9, 2013 in the GNAC Tournament final in Lacy.


 
Sharp Shooters
When the Falcons shoot well, they win. They have a 10-0 record this season when shooting 50 percent or better and are 11-1 when posting a higher percentage from the field than foes. SPU is shooting 47.9 percent (588 of 1227) as a team, reaching the 50-percent mark 10 times. They hit 59-percent of their shots (33 of 56) in the Dec. 18 win at Stanislaus State. Five Falcons are making as many or more shots than they miss, led by the 57-percent accuracy (71 of 124) of Nathan Streufert. SPU's best 3-point shooter is Gabe Colosimo at 46 percent (24 of 52). Four players are making free throws at better than an 80-percent clip, topped by the 89.7 percent accuracy of Nikhil Lizotte (61 of 68).
 
Falcons Fast Facts
Nathan Streufert is averaging 12 rebounds in the last four outings with 48 boards, including 16 at Simon Fraser (Jan. 25) and 17 vs. Alaska Anchorage (Feb. 1) ... The Falcons have already eclipsed last year's total of 12 wins and equaled their output of eight GNAC victories ... Eight different players have been SPU's game scoring leader at least once this season ... The Falcons have a 9-1 record when holding foes under 80 points ... SPU utilized seven different starting lineups ... SPU outrebounded 16 opponents, outboarding foes by 6.1 per game (38.1–32.0) ... The school single-game record was tied with 11 blocked shots on Nov. 17 versus Concordia-Irvine, led by seven from Streufert.
 
Scouting Western Oregon (21-1, 13-1 GNAC)
> The Wolves won GNAC regular-season titles in 2015 and 2016.
 
> WOU, which won its last 14 outings, is led by the 12.9-point and 6.3-rebound averages of 2017 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Tanner Omlid. He erupted for 34 points versus the Falcons last season in Seattle on Jan. 5. 
 
> SPU leads the all-time series 40-22 despite losing the last seven encounters, three of them in overtime. The Wolves won this year's first meeting 83-79 on Jan. 13 in Seattle behind the 20-point performances of Omlid and Riley Hawken.
 
Scouting Concordia (4-18, 0-14 GNAC)
> The Cavaliers opened the season with four wins before losing their last 18 contests.
 
> Concordia features the high-scoring duo of Jarrett Gray (16.8 ppg) and Christopher Edward (16.3), who is the GNAC's top rebounder at 10.8 boards per game.
 
> SPU boasts a 6-1 series lead and was a 74-72 victor on Jan. 11 in Seattle.
 
Scouting Saint Martin's (17-5, 10-4 GNAC)
> The third-place Saints won their last seven games.
 
> Luke Chavez tops SMU, scoring at a 16.2-point clip while distributing assists at a rate of 3.8 per game. He tallied 27 points in the 80-73 win at SPU on Jan. 16
 
> The Falcons boast a 97-38 all-time series lead despite losing the last four encounters
 
Scouting MSU Billings (12-13, 4-10 GNAC)
> Billings defeated Concordia 80-79 on Saturday to halt a six-game losing streak.
 
> Zack Rollins (15.2 ppg) headlines a list of four Yellowjackets double-digit scorers.
 
> The Falcons lead the series by a 42-30 margin and won the last seven encounters. SPU won this season's first meeting 98-87 on Jan. 18 in Seattle behind Coleman Wooten's 21 points.

 

Super Soph
Gavin Long leads all active Falcons with a 13.0-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 second on the team in field goal accuracy (54.3%) and third in assists with 40.
 
Terrific Transfer
Junior Nikhil Lizotte ranks third on the team with 9.5 points per game, including 10 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 earned Sodexo Classic MVP honors for the second straight season after compiling 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting while adding 10 rebounds and nine assists in the two-game tournament, Nov. 17-18. Wooten leads SPU in assists (63) and is second in rebounds (6.7 rpg) while scoring at a 9.9-point clip on 53-percent shooting accuracy. He netted a season-high 21 points on Jan. 18 versus 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 per game while leading the Falcons with 72 assists last season. Wooten has 13 career games of 20 points or more and 11 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 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 three double-doubles and was the Falcons leader on the boards in 10 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. Sophomore Sharif Khan and junior Sam Simpson are sidelined for the season. Sophomore forward Tony Miller is out after undergoing shoulder injury. His brother, sophomore Trey Miller, has been limited to seven 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 60 combined games due to injury/illness this season. Gavin Long and Coleman Wooten are the only players to start all 21 games.
 
Missing Miller
Sophomore Tony Miller's is out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery last week. He was sidelined the last nine 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 25-24 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. Key veterans Sam Simpson and Gabe Colosimo were sidelined with injuries along with North Dakota State transfer Trey Miller. 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.
 
Next Week
The SPU men play their final two regular-season contests, both of them 7:30 p.m. games that are nightcaps of doubleheaders with the women at home in Brougham Pavilion. They host Central Washington on Feb. 22 and Northwest Nazarene on Feb. 24.