• FINAL STATS    |    • VIDEO: GAVIN  LONG
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SEATTLE – Gavin Long led five double-figure scorers with 17 points for Seattle Pacific, which staged an impressive start Saturday and held on for an 87-74 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball win over Alaska Anchorage at Brougham Pavilion.
 
The Falcons (8-3) notched a sixth straight victory to forge their longest winning streak since 2016. They improved to 5-1 in league play, ensuring a share of first place heading into their upcoming four-game road trip.
 
SPU led by as many as 28 points early in the second half before the Seawolves rallied to close within 76-67 with two minutes remaining. Nikhil Lizotte hit two free throws and Harry Cavell made a layup to push the Falcons lead back to 13 points and it never got under 10 the rest of the way.
 
Joining Long in double figures for SPU were Coleman Wooten with 16, Sam Simpson and Nathan Streufert with 14 apiece and Harry Cavell with 13.
 
Long and Streufert each grabbed nine rebounds, and Wooten had eight, to drive their team's dominating 46-26 effort on the boards.
 
"Rebounding was the big difference. Our guys did such a great job of getting on the glass in the first half," said third-year SPU coach Grant Leep. "You look at the boxscore at halftime and we were shooting so well from three. We were missing some interior shots, but we were right there to be able to grab them and put them in.
 
"A couple times we got two or three offensive rebounds on the same possession and that can really demoralize an opponent. The way that our guys went after the ball tonight, the aggressiveness that we showed and the purposeful energy that we showed really set the tone for how we played."
 
Jack Macdonald scored 16 of his game-high 18 points during the second half for UAA (7-7), which saw its GNAC record drop to 2-4. Niko Bevens tallied 14 points and Brennan Rymer has 12.
 
For the second straight game the Falcons contained their opponent's leading scorer. In Thursday's 79-62 win over Alaska Fairbanks, Michael Kluting netted just two points.
 
Saturday saw UAA's Tyler Brimhall held to seven points, on 3-for-14 shooting. He entered the game scoring at a 16.8-point clip.
 
"They've been doing a really good job of taking information and applying scouting reports," Leep said of his defenders. "We look back to November where the other team's leading scorer would always come in and put one on us a little bit. Guys are starting to rise up to that challenge.
 
"Look at tonight with Brimhall. He's a really good player averaging 17 points a game. Our guys took that as a challenge to be able to go up against him and try to make him work for his points. They did a great job of it tonight."
 
After making just 25 percent of their first-half attempts (7 of 28), the Seawolves shot 64 percent (21 of 33) after halftime to finish at 46 percent (28 of 61). They posted a slight shooting edge over SPU, which finished at 46 percent (31 of 68).
 
The Falcons got off to a dream start, pitching a shutout for over five minutes while constructing a 17-0 lead. They nailed 6 of 10 shots to open the game, including all three of their 3-point tries.
 
On the other end, SPU prohibited any points in the Seawolves first seven possessions. The visitors missed their initial eight shots and committed a turnover during that span.
 
 "Our group felt really good coming into this one," Leep said. "We've been consistent with the importance of rebounding, sharing the ball and taking care of the ball. That has just kind of been a recipe for us to have some success and they've really latched onto that message."
 
Anchorage finally got on the board 5-minutes, 9-seconds into the game on a 3-pointer from the left corner by Bevens that made the score 17-3. He was fouled by Cavell, but failed to convert the subsequent free throw.

 

The Falcons resumed their roll, getting back-to-back layups from Long and Streufert to stretch the lead to 21-3 with 13:12 left in the first half. At that point all five starters had scored a basket for SPU, which was shooting 8-for-13.
 
UAA got its first consecutive baskets, by Sjur Berg and Rymer, to finally reach double-digit points with 9:45 showing on the clock and the score 23-10.
 
Simpson then tallied eight straight SPU points to spark a 12-1 surge that netted a 35-11 advantage.
 
That margin grew to 47-21 by halftime as the Falcons got the final five points, capped by Long's 3-pointer 4.6 seconds before intermission.
 
A trio of Falcons contributed 10 points during the opening 20 minutes; Long, Simpson and Streufert.
 
SPU made 7 of 10 first-half treys, shooting 17-for-39 overall before intermission.
 
Ten consecutive second-half points by the Seawolves, four each from Matt Seymour and Travis Adams and two from Tyler Brimhall, trimmed the deficit to 65-49. But that rally was turned back by consecutive baskets by SPU's Streufert.
 
Anchorage made it interesting with a 15-5 run that featured a three-point play and three treys without a miss. That narrowed the gap to 76-67 with 2:00 left to play before the Falcons secured the result by hitting 9 of 10 free throws in the final 1:46.
 
The SPU men hit the road for their next four games, beginning on Thursday in Portland. They visit Concordia (Ore.) for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
 
The key to extending the current winning streak, according to Leep, is to replicate those positive aspects of the games that built the stretch.
 
"We have to keep focusing on the things that we've done to get us here. Sharing the ball -- we had 15 assists on 31 made baskets. Taking care of the ball -- we only turned it over nine times. And then we finished plus-20 on the glass. When we rebound it, take care of the ball and share the ball, we're a pretty good team.
 
"I love the effort and the focus that we're giving on the defensive end, such terrific team and individual efforts from so many guys. We just have a lot of guys that are doing a lot of things really well for us right now."
 
The last time SPU had a better stretch of success was from Jan. 9 to Feb. 4, 2016 when the reeled off eight straight victories.
 
The Falcons next home game is Jan. 31 at 5:15 p.m. against Simon Fraser as the opener of a Brougham Pavilion doubleheader with the women's team.
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 87, Alaska Anchorage 74
 
ALASKA ANCHORAGE (7-7, 2-4 GNAC)
Brimhall 3-14 0-0 7, Bevens 5-12 0-1 14, Berg 1-2 0-0 2, Rymer 5-7 1-1 12, Macdonald 8-11 0-0 18, Seymour 2-3 2-3 8, Karlberg 1-4 2-2 5, Adams 2-3 0-0 4, Pearson 1-3 0-0 3, Dowell 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 28-61 6-9 74.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (8-3, 5-1 GNAC)
Wooten 6-16 1-6 16, Streufert 6-10 2-3 14, Cavell 6-9 0-0 13, Lizotte 2-7 2-2 7, Long 7-13 1-2 17, Simpson 2-4 8-8 14, Moffitt 2-8 2-2 6, Van Dyken 0-0 0-0 0, Khan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-68 16-23 87.
 
Alaska Anchorage......21...53..--..74
Seattle Pacific.......47...40..--..87
 
3-point goals--UAA 12-25 (Bevens 4-10, Seymour 2-2, Macdonald 2-3, Pearson 1-1, Karlberg 1-3, Brimhall 1-5, Rymer 1-1), SPU 9-18 (Wooten 3-5, Simpson 2-2, Long 2-2, Lizotte 1-4, Cavell 1-2, Khan 0-1, Moffitt 0-2). Fouled out--UAA-Rymer, SPU-None. Rebounds--UAA 26 (Bevens 7), SPU 46 (Streufert, Long 9). Assists--UAA 14 (Rymer 4), SPU 15 (Simpson 4). Total fouls--UAA 22, SPU 13. Technical fouls--UAA-None, SPU-Long. A-628.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Concordia-Portland
Thursday, Jan. 17, 7:30 p.m. PST
LCEF Center / Portland, Ore.