• FINAL STATS (html)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Nathan Streufert's putback layup as the final buzzer sounded Thursday lifted the Seattle Pacific men to their seventh straight victory, an 80-78 win over Concordia-Portland in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball clash at LCEF Court.
 
The Falcons (9-3) retained a share of first-place, improving their league record to 6-1. The seven consecutive wins mark their best string of success since 2016.
 
"We competed all the way through and the guys did a good job executing on that last play," said Falcons coach Grant Leep. "Nate was right there to pick it up and pop it in."
 
SPU staked a 78-67 lead on a pair of free throws from Nikhil Lizotte with 1:13 left to play. Dakota Ayala made a layup and, after a Falcons turnover, Jarrett Gray nailed a 3-pointer to trim the margin to 78-72.
 
Lizotte was fouled on the next possession and inexplicably missed both free throws. He entered the game having converted 20 consecutive charity shots and shooting 27-for-28 for the season from the line.
 
Tyler Wells hit a trey with 42 seconds remaining for the Cavaliers, who gained possession again 11 seconds later after SPU's Sharif Khan missed two free throws.
 
"Uncharacteristic and it's going to be a one-time thing for them," said Leep. "I'm not worried. The next time Nikhil goes to the line, he's going to make them. The next time Sharif goes to the line, he's going to make them. Nothing happened to change my confidence in those two guys."
 
Gray tied the score, 78-78, on a deep 3-pointer six feet beyond the top of the key with 6.1 seconds showing on the clock.
 
After a timeout, the Falcons inbounded to Gavin Long who quickly dribbled down the right side of the court and ran up against two defenders before tossing up a shot from just outside the key. That attempt rimmed off, but Streufert was there for the rebound and uncontested layup as time expired.
 
"What we wanted is for Gavin to get the ball on the run with his right hand. When he gets going like that, he a tough player to guard, a good scorer and a good free throw shooter," Leep described. "We knew that would be a good way for us to go.
 
"We told Coleman (Wooten), who inbounded, and Nate, who was in the front court, to fall in behind and either be available for a pass or be ready for the situation that ended up happening, with it coming off the rim. Thanks goodness Nate was there to make a big, senior play."
 
Harry Cavell led five SPU double-figure scorers with 15 points. Four other Falcons each tallied 11 points, Lizotte, Coleman Wooten, Sam Boone and Divant'e Moffitt. Streufert's decisive basket pushed his total to nine points.

 

Boone grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds to lead SPU's 39-28 advantage on the boards. The 6-foot-7 junior forward nailed 2 of 4 shots from 3-point range en route to his first double-double. He is a transfer from Lamar Community College.
 
"Sam played really hard. He competed and battled inside," said Leep. "When Nate and Coleman both had two fouls, he gave a really good stretch of playing hard, rebounding and finishing some plays inside. The effort there just matched his production."
 
The Falcons shot 69 percent in the first half (18 of 26) and finished at 57 percent for the game (33 of 58).
 
Gray scored 23 points to pace the Cavaliers (6-9), who dropped to 1-6 in GNAC games. They also got 13 points from Cody Starr, 12 from Hunter Sweet and 11 from Ayala.
 
Concordia capitalized on some early SPU miscues to build an 11-4 lead.
 
The Falcons hit 7 of their first 9 shots, but six turnovers kept them in the trailing position until their defense tightened to cause a late first-half CU drought.
 
The Cavaliers went over 13 minutes without a basket before Gray hit a jumper 0.4 seconds before halftime to set the score at 40-24 in favor of the Falcons.
 
When Ayala made a layup with 13:19 showing on the clock, he put the hosts up 17-11. Concordia missed its next 13 shots and committed eight turnovers, going without a field goal for 23 straight possessions.
 
Five free throws during that span minimized the damage, but the Falcons forged a 29-5 run.
 
The guard combo of Lizotte and Moffitt sparked the surge with nine points apiece.
 
"The middle part of the first half is when we really got things rolling. We held them to seven points over the last 13 minutes of the half," Leep said. "We got a really good rhythm going on offense.
 
"Defensively we were getting stops and playing the way we need to play. It was a really good team effort all the way through that first half and I love how hard our group competed."
 
SPU held off the Cavaliers for most of the second half, keeping the lead in double digits for the majority of the period until the late rally.
 
Concordia shot 58 percent in the second half (19 of 33) to improve to 47 percent for the game (28 of 60). After making just 1 of 6 treys in the first half they hit 7 of 9 after halftime.
 
"In the second half we let them get a little bit loose from the 3-point line. Credit to them, they kept playing hard and did a good job defending us and taking us out of some things that we wanted to get into," Leep said.
 
"But our guys kept battling and kept fighting. We fought through some missed free throws and the great thing is we got the ball to the right people and we will usually make those plays. "
 
The Falcons remain on the road to play defending GNAC champion Western Oregon on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. The Wolves won their last nine meetings with the Falcons.
 
Seattle Pacific is winless in its last five visits to Monmouth, Ore., last emerging victorious in 2013.
 
"That's a tough place to play," Leep said of Western Oregon. "They are very well coached and they play extremely hard. We're definitely going to have our work cut out for us."
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019
LCEF Court / Portland, Ore.
 
Seattle Pacific 80, at Concordia-Portland 78
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (9-3, 6-1 GNAC)
Wooten 5-9 0-0 11, Streufert 4-7 0-0 9, Cavell 5-10 4-4 15, Long 4-7 0-0 8, Lizotte 4-7 3-7 11, Moffitt 5-6 0-0 11, Boone 4-8 1-2 11, Khan 2-4 0-2 4. Totals 33-58 8-15 80.
 
CONCORDIA-PORTLAND (6-9, 1-6 GNAC)
Sweet 4-12 3-4 12, Ayala 5-8 1-2 11, Cates 1-5 0-1 2, Gray 9-12 1-2 23, Bradley 3-4 1-2 7, Starr 3-8 5-6 13, Wells 2-5 1-2 6, Williams 1-6 2-2 4, Butler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-60 14-21 78.
 
Seattle Pacific.......40...40..--..80
Concorda-Portland.....24...54..--..78
 
3-point goals--SPU 6-17 (Boone 2-4, Streufert 1-1, Moffitt 1-2, Cavell 1-3, Wooten 1-3, Khan 0-1, Long 0-1, Lizotte 0-2), CU 8-15 (Gray 4-5, Starr 2-4, Wells 1-3, Sweet 1-1, Cates 0-2). Fouled out--SPU-None, CU-None. Rebounds--SPU 39 (Boone 11), CU 28 (Gray 6). Assists--SPU 14 (Moffitt 4), CU 15 (Cates 4). Total fouls--SPU 18, CU 18. Technical fouls--SPU-None, CU-None. A-517.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon
Saturday, Jan. 19, 5:15 p.m. PST
New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.