• FINAL STATS

BILLINGS, Mont. – Nikhil Lizotte netted 23 points and Coleman Wooten tallied his 1,000th career point Saturday, but that scoring came in a losing effort as the Seattle Pacific men lost 92-63 to Montana State Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball game at Alterowitz Gymnasium.
 
The Falcons (9-6) ended a four-game road trip with their third straight setback immediately after putting together a seven-game winning streak. They fell to 6-4 in league play with their most lopsided loss since an 85-49 defeat at Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 29, 2016.
 
Billings raced out to a 26-10 lead and steadily stretched it until the margin reach 41 points midway through the second half.
 
A product of Tahoma High School in Maple Valley, Washington, Wooten scored eight points to increase his career total to 1,006. A jumper 4:35 into the second half made the 6-foot-5 senior forward the 36th player in SPU men's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point mark.

 

Lizotte scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half, recording the first 20-point game of the season by an SPU player. Joining him in double-figures for the Falcons were Divant'e Moffitt with 13 and Sam Simpson with 10.
 
Brendan Howard scored 10 points to lead the Yellowjackets (10-8), who evened their GNAC record at 5-5. He hit all three of his 3-point attempts, helping the team nail 10 of 19 treys.
 
Tyler Green compiled 19 points for MSUB, which also got 13 from Zack Rollins and 10 apiece from Melvin Newbern Jr. and Seth Christiaens.
 
Billings shot 57 percent (36 of 63) while SPU needed 60-percent second-half accuracy (15 of 25) to offset a subpar opening period and climb to 43 percent for the game (22 of 51).
 
The hosts parlayed 21 SPU turnovers into 27 points while committing just 10 miscues themselves.
 
The first half was a struggle for SPU in every aspect as the 55-24 score displayed. The Falcons shot 27 percent (7 of 26) and made only 3 of 16 treys with two of them coming in the final 2:14 of the period.
 
The Falcons got just three first-half points from starters en route to their lowest scoring period of the season.
 
The Yellowjackets defense forced 16 turnovers and outrebounded the visitors 21-11 during the opening 20 minutes. On the other end, MSUB shot a sizzling 69 percent (22 of 32), including 5-for-8 accuracy on 3-pointers.
 
A free throw from Wooten followed by a Gavin Long jumper provided SPU's only lead of the game, 5-4, with 17:12 showing on the clock. Those would be the only points produced by starters until nearly 22 minutes later when Wooten hit a jumper with 15:25 left in the game.
 
Billings immediately reclaimed the lead on a layup by Melvin Newbern, Jr. that ignited a 22-5 spree. The key part of that surge came when the Yellowjackets tallied 13 consecutive points while holding SPU scoreless for nearly six minutes.
 
The Falcons turned the ball over four times during that stretch, missing five shots and two free throws before stopping the drought on a Moffitt jump shot with 7:41 left in the half.
 
MSUB strung together runs of 8 and 11 unanswered points to build the 55-24 halftime advantage.
 
Long, the Falcons leading scorer on the season, went down with an ankle injury seven minutes into the game and did not return.
 
To start the second half SPU turned the ball over on its first three possessions and then missed three shots, enabling Billings to score eight straight points for a 63-24 lead. That margin grew to as high as 79-38, with 11:24 remaining.
 
The largest previous deficit the Falcons had faced this season was 19 points in Tuesday's 80-63 loss at 16th-ranked Saint Martin's.
 
Lizotte responded with five consecutive points for SPU, which drained four 3-pointers inside the final 10 minutes to narrow the deficit.

 

Senior guard Conner Van Dyken came off the bench in the second half to score a career-high five points for the Falcons. The Bozeman, Montana native hit both of his shots, including a trey just 40 seconds after entering the game.
 
Seattle Pacific returns home for a pair of games next week, beginning on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. against Simon Fraser as the opener of a basketball doubleheader with the women in Brougham Pavilion. On Saturday, Feb. 2, the Falcons men host Western Washington at 4 p.m. in the annual Homecoming Game.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
 
at Montana State Billings 92, Seattle Pacific 63
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (9-6, 6-4 GNAC)
Wooten 3-5 1-5 8, Streufert 1-7 0-3 2, Cavell 0-3 0-0 0, Lizotte 8-15 3-4 23, Long 1-4 0-0 2, Moffitt 5-7 1-2 13, Simpson 2-5 4-4 10, Van Dyken 2-2 0-0 5, Khan 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-51 9-18 63.
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (10-8, 5-5 GNAC)
Richmond 3-5 0-0 6, Newbern Jr 5-7 0-0 10, Jeuschede 3-3 0-0 8, Green 6-12 3-3 19, Rollins 5-9 2-2 13, Howard 7-11 3-4 20, Christiaens 5-6 0-0 10, Terashima 2-7 2-3 6, Clark 0-1 0-1 0, Lehrer 0-1 0-0 0, Abdul 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 36-63 10-13 92.
 
Seattle Pacific...............24...39..--..63
Montana State Billings........55...37..--..92
 
3-point goals--SPU 10-27 (Lizotte 4-10, Moffitt 2-3, Simpson 2-4, Wooten 1-3, Van Dyken 1-1, Cavell 0-2, Khan 0-3, Long 0-1), MSUB 10-19 (Green 4-8, Howard 3-3, Jeuschede 2-2, Rollins 1-5, Richmond 0-1). Fouled out--SPU-Moffitt, MSUB-None. Rebounds--SPU 28 (Simpson, Streufert 5), MSUB 35 (Newbern Jr 9). Assists--SPU 13 (Moffitt 5), MSUB 20 (Jeuschede 5). Total fouls--SPU 20, MSUB 19. Technical fouls--SPU-None, MSUB-Rollins. A-497.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Jan. 31, 5:15 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.