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ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Tanner Omlid and Vince Boumann combined for 40 points in limited minutes Friday for third-ranked Western Oregon, which ended Seattle Pacific's men's basketball season with a 97-70 win in the semifinal round of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
The fourth-seeded Falcons (17-12) concluded the campaign with their most lopsided loss, a 27-point setback. They had just two prior double-digit defeats and the largest was by 14 points, 95-81, at Western Oregon on Feb. 8. Omlid compiled a career-high 32 points in that game.
 
WOU's 6-foot-4 senior forward was named the GNAC Player of the Year on Monday. Omlid displayed why he is deserving of that award on Friday, totaling 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals in 24 minutes.
 
Grant Leep, who completed his second season as head coach, isn't sad that his Falcons won't have to face Omlid ever again.
 
"What a great career. Every time we play he makes big play after big play. It's unbelievable how well he plays against us. Part of the draw that we have at SPU is that we know we're getting every team's best effort, no more personified than how Tanner has played against us.
 
Omlid exited the game for good just seven minutes into the second half with the Wolves owning a commanding 61-35 lead.
 
Also departing at that time was Boumann, a 6-foot-9 center who accumulated 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting in 23 minutes.
 
Dustin Triano came off the bench to score 12 second-half points for the Wolves.
 
Top-seeded Western Oregon (28-1) advances to meet No. 3 seed Saint Martin's, a 69-68 victor over No. 2 Western Washington in Friday's first semifinal. SMU reached the GNAC title game for the first time while the ousted Vikings were the defending tournament champions.
 
The GNAC Tournament championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 6:15 p.m. Pacific Time and will air on ESPN3.
 
Seattle Pacific was led by the 17 points of reserve guard Nikhil Lizotte. He hit 6 of 12 shots from the field and nailed three treys in five attempts.
 
"Nikhil found his 3-point shot. He's a better shooter than what his percentages have been all year," Leep said. "There have been games that he's won for us because of his ability to score. He gives us a different look with his speed and quickness and he was able to knock in some clean looks tonight."

 

Coleman Wooten scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half for the Falcons, who also got 12 points from Gabe Colosimo.
 
The Wolves converted 59 percent of their shots (37 of 63), including 10-for-25 accuracy from 3-point range. They collected 50 points in the paint.
 
Despite stellar 10-for-21 efficiency on treys, SPU shot just 42 percent overall (23 of 55).
 
The Falcons were swept in three meetings this season, extending their losing streak to nine games versus WOU.
 
Back-to-back baskets in the lane by Wooten and Colosimo gave SPU its only lead, at 4-2, just 1:37 into the game. The Wolves tallied the next eight points to gain a lead they would steadily expand.
 
"Western Oregon did such a good job of taking to us. They take it to you on both ends, they're so aggressive," Leep described. "They definitely set the tempo with how they play. We just never fully got comfortable and it's all credit to how aggressively they played.
 
"We had a pretty solid game plan in, especially for short prep. Our guys were ready, they were focused and they knew the stuff. Then the first play of the game they get a steal and a layup. A few plays later they get a steal and a layup. It kind of snowballed on us from there."
 
A jumper by Lizotte cut the Falcons deficit to 17-13 before Omlid netted seven straight points to ignite a 14-3 WOU run. By the time Boumann stuck back a teammate's miss with 9:07 showing on the clock, the Wolves led 31-16.
 
Omlid and Boumann combined for 34 first-half points, outscoring SPU by themselves. Omlid had 19 points, on 8-for-13 accuracy and Boumann had 15 without a missing a shot in seven attempts before intermission.
 
The Wolves shot 63 percent (20 of 32) collectively during the opening period while holding SPU at 35 percent (10 of 29).
 
In the second half, Colosimo and Lizotte drained consecutive 3-pointers to bring the Falcons within 54-35. But WOU responded with a 10-point spree.
 
The margin eventually grew as large as 34 points, at 77-43, with 10:20 remaining. That was more than twice as large as any deficit the Falcons had faced this season. They trailed by 16 points in only two previous games, both of them encounters with Western Oregon. No other SPU opponent held a lead of more than 15 points.
 
The Wolves kept firing, and a quartet of 3-pointers in the final seven minutes propelled them to a GNAC Tournament-record total of 97 points. That surpassed their own standard, a mark of 94 points established against Alaska Anchorage in 2014.
 
The SPU men have a 9-4 all-time record in the GNAC championships, including Thursday's 64-51 quarterfinal victory over host Alaska Anchorage. They are the only school to capture multiple titles, having won the tournament in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

 

Getting two games of playoff experience was invaluable for the youthful SPU team, according to Leep.
 
"It's huge for us. We went into the offseason with a couple things last year that we wanted to accomplish, like making the conference tournament, and we did that. We improved in some of the areas that we needed to. Now it's going to be another review and look at where we can get better.
 
"This is a group that is completely bought in. This is a group that plays extremely hard. Now we just need have become more consistent with what we do and how we do it."
 
Next season, the Falcons should return all five of their starters from this year's team that tied for fourth place in the conference standings with an 11-9 record.
 
They will also get sophomore forward Tony Miller back from a shoulder injury. The 2017 GNAC Freshman of the Year, Miller boasted a team-leading 18-point scoring average through 12 games this season before being sidelined.
 
Miller was one of four significant players that were shelved for the season due to injury. The others were Sharif Khan, Braden Olsen and Sam Simpson.
 
Leep hopes the offseason speeds past because he can't wait for preseason practice to start up next fall.
 
"It's going to seem like it's forever. The next time we get together we'll have a healthy, full roster, hopefully."
 
SPU's only departures will be seniors Hunter Eisenhower and EJ Poulsen. Eisenhower scored nine points Friday, all of them coming on 3-pointers.
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Friday, March 2, 2018
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska
 
(#3) Western Oregon 97, Seattle Pacific 70
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (17-12) -- #4 seed
Wooten 4-9 4-7 13, Streufert 1-4 0-0 2, Cavell 1-4 0-0 3, Colosimo 5-12 0-0 12, Long 3-6 2-3 8, Lizotte 6-12 2-2 17, Eisenhower 3-6 0-0 9, Miller 0-2 6-6 6, Poulsen 0-0 0-0 0, Van Dyken 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-55 14-18 70.
 
WESTERN OREGON (28-1) -- #1 seed
Omlid 10-16 2-3 23, Boumann 7-8 3-4 17, Hawken 2-2 0-0 5, Morgan 2-4 0-0 6, Faruq-Bey 1-8 1-2 3, Triano 4-6 0-0 12, Evans 4-4 0-0 9, Trammell 2-5 4-4 9, Alaby 3-5 2-3 8, Souza 2-2 1-1 5, Chirnside 0-0 0-0 0, Lubom 0-0 0-0 0, Nestell 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 37-63 13-17 97.
 
Seattle Pacific...............   27   43  -   70
Western Oregon................   47   50  -   97
 
3-point goals--SPU 10-21 (Eisenhower 3-6, Lizotte 3-5, Colosimo 2-5, Wooten 1-2, Cavell 1-2, Streufert 0-1), WOU 10-25 (Triano 4-6, Morgan 2-4, Evans 1-1, Hawken 1-1, Omlid 1-4, Trammell 1-3, Nestell 0-2, Faruq-Bey 0-4). Fouled out--SPU-None, WOU-None. Rebounds--SPU 28 (Wooten, Long 6), WOU 33 (Omlid 8). Assists--SPU 14 (Streufert 5), WOU 25 (Omlid, Nestell 5). Total fouls--SPU 15, WOU 20. Technical fouls--SPU-None, WOU-None. A-591.