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THURSDAY, JANUARY 17
Seattle Pacific at Concordia (Ore.), 7:30 p.m. PST
LCEF Court / Portland, Ore.
 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 19
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 5:15 p.m. PST
New PE Building / Monmouth, Ore.
 
TUESDAY, JANUARY 22
Seattle Pacific at (#23) Saint Martin's, 7:00 p.m. PST
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 26
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/
 
Streaking Seattle Pacific embarks on its longest road stretch of the season with four consecutive contests at hostile Great Northwest Athletic Conference arenas, including three games during a six-day span. The first-place Falcons (8-3, 5-1 GNAC) bring a six-game winning streak into the trip that starts at Concordia-Portland on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. SPU won seven of eight all-time encounters with the Cavaliers (6-8, 1-5), including a two-game sweep last year. A clash with defending GNAC champion and co-first place occupier, Western Oregon, is slated for Saturday, Jan. 19 at 5:15 p.m.. The Wolves (12-3, 5-1) won the last nine meetings versus SPU. On Tuesday, Jan. 22 league favorite Saint Martin's, also in first place, hosts the Falcons for a 7 p.m. game. The 23rd-ranked Saints (12-2, 5-1) won the last five meetings. The four-game road trip concludes on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 4:15 p.m. PST (5:15 MST) at Montana State Billings (8-6, 3-3). SPU has won eight straight over the Yellowjackets. The next home game for the Falcons is Jan. 31 at 5:15 p.m. against Simon Fraser to open a doubleheader with the women's team.
 
Sharp Shooters
The SPU men rank No. 13 nationally in field goal shooting at 50.5 percent (330 of 654) as a team, reaching the 50-percent mark seven times in 11 contests. The Falcons held all but one foe under 48-percent and won all seven games when shooting 50 percent themselves. SPU hit an astounding 64.3-percent of its attempts (36 of 56) in the Dec. 1 home win over Central Washington and shot 61.2 percent (30 of 49) at Simon Fraser on Jan. 5. Five Falcons are making as many or more shots than they miss, led by the 69-percent accuracy (44 of 64) of Nathan Streufert. SPU's best 3-point shooter is Gavin Long at 54 percent (13 of 24). Seven players are converting free throws at better than an 80-percent clip, topped by the 96.4 percent accuracy of Nikhil Lizotte (27 of 28).
 


Falcons Fast Facts
Nikhil Lizotte converted his last 20 free throw attempts, last missing in the first half on Nov. 29 ... No Falcon has scored 20 points in a game this season and none of them has double-figure points in every game ... The Falcons finished with a 3-2 record in non-league games, a schedule abbreviated by the absence of two season-opening games in Chico, Calif. that were cancelled due to a wildfire ... Senior forward Coleman Wooten has 549 career rebounds and 974 points ... Wooten and junior Long were named to the 15-man Preseason All-GNAC team and the Falcons were picked second in the poll.
 
Last Week
The SPU men swept two home games, starting with a 79-62 win over Alaska Fairbanks (Jan. 10) behind the 15 points of Nikhil Lizotte. They netted the first 17 points and held on for an 87-74 win over Alaska Anchorage (Jan. 12) behind Gavin Long's 17.
 
Scouting Concordia (6-8, 1-5 GNAC)
> The Cavaliers lost their last three games after winning three straight.
 
> Concordia features guard Jarrett Gray, who averages 14.5 points.
 
> SPU boasts a 7-1 series lead after sweeping both encounters last season.
 
Scouting Western Oregon (12-3, 5-1 GNAC)
> The Wolves won three of the last four GNAC regular-season titles.
 
> WOU, which won its last three outings, is led by the 13.7-point and 6.5-rebound averages of Riley Hawken.
 
> SPU leads the all-time series 40-24 despite losing the last nine meetings.
 
Scouting Saint Martin's (12-2, 5-1 GNAC)
> The Saints were victorious in 10 of their last 11 games.
 
> Five SMU players average double-figure points, topped by Chandler Redix (12.6) and GNAC Preseason Player of the Year, Luke Chavez (12.3).
 
> The Falcons boast a 97-39 all-time series lead despite losing the last five encounters
 
Scouting Montana State Billings (8-6, 3-3 GNAC)
> Billings defeated Concordia 80-69 on Saturday to halt a three-game losing streak.
 
> The Yellowjackets feature the high-scoring quartet of Tyler Green (15.8 ppg), Zack Rollins (14.9), Melvin Newbern Jr. (13.5) and Brendan Howard (13.1).
 
> The Falcons lead the series by a 43-30 margin and won the last eight matchups.
 
Wonderful Wooten
Senior Coleman Wooten, who was named GNAC Player of the Week on Nov. 19, collected double-figure rebounds five times this season while averaging 8.0 per game. He has three double-doubles. Wooten was recognized as a second-team All-GNAC performer last year after being an honorable mention selection in 2017. In 2018, Wooten led SPU in assists with 83 (2.9 apg) and was second in rebounds (7.0 rpg) while scoring at an 11.0-point clip on 54-percent shooting accuracy. On Jan. 17, 2017 Wooten erupted for a career-high 35 points at Saint Martin's. The 6-foot-5 forward has 16 career games of 20 points or more and 19 double-digit rebounds games, including a career-high 16 boards on Nov. 18, 2016. The two-time Sodexo Classic MVP has 13 career double-doubles.
 
Super Students
Six student-athletes from this year's SPU team were 2018 All-GNAC Academic honorees, led by Sam Simpson with a 3.87 grade point in biochemistry. Nathan Streufert boasts a 3.76 GPA in physiology. The other academic all-stars are: Gabe Colosimo (3.49, psychology), Gavin Long (3.41, physiology), Conner Van Dyken (3.31, health) and Coleman Wooten (3.50, accounting).

 

Gavin the Great
Gavin Long leads the Falcons with a 15.1-point scoring average. The 6-foot-5 junior guard has been SPU's top scorer six times this year with a trio of 19-point performances. Long was a 2018 honorable mention All-GNAC selection. He is SPU's top returning scorer with an 11.9-point average. Long netted a career-high 26 points at Simon Fraser on Jan. 25, 2018, the top scoring game by a Falcon last season. Last year Long ranked second on the team in blocked shots (15) and third in both field goal accuracy (52.4%) and assists (53).
 
Balanced Attack
All five starters average double-figure points for the Falcons, who share the ball so much that nobody has registered a 20-point performance this season. Over 47 percent of SPU's baskets (156 of 330) were set up by assists and five players have been credited with at least 20 of them. Four different Falcons served as the scoring leader for games this season and eight different players topped the team in assists.
 
Hot Lizotte
Senior Nikhil Lizotte started the second half of the Nov. 17 game with SPU trailing 30-28. He erupted for 19 points and hit 5-of-5 treys with four assists in 15 minutes to spark the win over Azusa Pacific. Lizotte led all SPU scorers on four occasions. He was fourth on the team with 9.8 points per game in 2018 with 13 double-digit efforts. Lizotte was the Falcons top free throw shooter at 86.9 percent (73-84). All of his SPU-high 20 points on Nov. 24, 2017 came after halftime. Lizotte transferred to SPU from Humboldt State where he started all 29 games in 2016-17. 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.
 
Carom Collector
Senior Nathan Streufert led SPU last season with 7.4 rebounds per game. On Feb. 1, 2018 versus Alaska Anchorage, he out-rebounded the rest of his teammates by a 17-14 margin. His father, Earl Streufert, is the boy's basketball coach at Richland (Wash.) High School.
 
2019 Season Preview
All five starters return from last season's 17-12 team, including the Falcons top-five point producers. Heading the list of returnees is senior forward Coleman Wooten, a second-team All-GNAC selection in 2018 after averaging 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds. Junior guard Gavin Long was an honorable mention all-league pick who averaged 11.9 points. That standout tandem is joined by three other returning starters; seniors Nikhil Lizotte and Nathan Streufert along with junior Gabe Colosimo. "This is the first time in my three years that we've had a really good mix of returning, experienced veterans, but then also some talented young players behind them," said third-year coach Grant Leep. Athletic sophomore Harry Cavell is back after drawing 10 starts in 2018. Two veteran returnees are back from injuries that sidelined them the majority of last year. Senior Sam Simpson is a stat sheet stuffer while sophomore Sharif Khan is a stellar sharpshooter. The lineup is bolstered by the addition of talented newcomers Sam Boone, a junior transfer from Lamar CC, and freshman Divant'e Moffitt.
 
Coach Leep
Grant Leep, 38, is in his third season directing the SPU men's basketball program after seven years as an assistant on the Falcons staff. He has a 37-31 career record. Leep coached the 2018 team to a 17-12 record, including an 11-9 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.
 
GNAC Report
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference is deep with quality teams. No GNAC teams are undefeated, nor are any winless. SPU is in a four-way tie for first place with Saint Martin's, Northwest Nazarene and Western Oregon. The league is loaded this season with seven teams boasting winning overall records, two sitting at .500 and just two team sporting losing ledgers. SPU is in pursuit of its sixth GNAC regular-season championship, but its first since 2014.
 
Opening Weekend Cancelled
The Falcons were scheduled to start the 2018-19 season at the Mac Martin Invitational in Chico, California on Nov. 9 and 10. The team arrived in Chico on Nov. 8, but returned home that night due to the "Camp" wildfire. The tournament was cancelled and the games will not be made up.
 
2018 Season Review
The Falcons finished the 2017-18 season with a 17-12 record, tying for fourth in the standings at 11-9. They beat host Alaska Anchorage in the GNAC Tournament first round before a semifinal loss to Western Oregon. Coleman Wooten earned second-team All-GNAC honors and Gavin Long was honorable mention.
 
Postseason Pursuit
SPU seeks to return to the NCAA Division II Tournament after a two-year absence. Prior to that, the Falcons forged a run of 12 straight playoff berths, from 2005-2016, that was the longest active streak among Division II men's basketball teams. SPU advanced to the national semifinals in both 2000 and 2006, placing third both times.