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THURSDAY, JANUARY 10
Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 12
Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific, 4:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
• Webcast for both games:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe1iS12FsEzoRas8fmcWzaA/live
• LiveStats for both games:  www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball
• Ticket Information:  http://siteline.vendini.com/site/spufalcons.com
 
Seattle Pacific (6-3, 3-1 GNAC) puts a season-best four-game winning streak and its first-place standing on the line this week at home in Brougham Pavilion against a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference foes. Alaska Fairbanks (4-7, 1-3) visits Seattle on Thursday, Jan. 10 for a 7 p.m. Pacific Time clash. SPU won 20 of the last 22 encounters with the Nanooks, including a sweep of two games last year. On Saturday, Jan. 12 Alaska Anchorage (7-5, 2-2) is in town for a 4 p.m. clash. The Seawolves had lost in seven straight trips to Seattle before emerging victorious in their last two visits.
 
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 nine teams boasting winning overall records, one sitting at .500 (Concordia) and just one team sporting a losing ledger (Alaska Fairbanks). SPU is in pursuit of its sixth GNAC regular-season championship, but its first since 2014.
 
Sharp Shooters
The SPU men are shooting 50.8 percent (267 of 526) as a team, reaching the 50-percent mark six times in nine contests. The Falcons held eight foes under 48-percent and won all six 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 in the last outing. Six Falcons are making as many or more shots than they miss, led by the 69-percent accuracy (33 of 48) of Nathan Streufert. SPU's best 3-point shooter is Gavin Long at 50 percent (10 of 20). Seven players are converting free throws at better than an 80-percent clip, topped by the 96.2 percent accuracy of Nikhil Lizotte (25 of 26).
 
Falcons Fast Facts
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 539 career rebounds and 946 points ... No SPU player has double-figure points in every game with Nikhil Lizotte scoring 10 or more points eight times ... Wooten and junior Long were named to the 15-man Preseason All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference team and the Falcons were picked second in the coaches preseason poll.
 
Last Week
SPU swept two road games, beginning with an 86-72 win at Western Washington (Jan. 3). Harry Cavell netted eight of his 18 points during the decisive 16-2 first-half run. Gavin Long headlined six double-figure scorers during a 94-66 triumph at Simon Fraser (Jan. 5). The Falcons shot 61 percent (30 of 49) and led by as many as 33 points.
 
Scouting Alaska Fairbanks (4-7, 1-3 GNAC)
> The Nanooks lost three of their last four games, but one setback came in overtime and another by just three points. They beat Anchorage 68-67 on Dec. 8.
 
> Fairbanks features 6-foot-7 junior forward Michael Kluting, who tops the team with averages of 14.3 points and 8.9 rebounds.
 
> Greg Sparling is in his first year as head coach at UAF after serving the previous 24 seasons leading Central Washington.
 
> The Falcons lead the all-time series 62-16 and won 20 of the last 22 encounters. SPU won the last five matchups, including season sweeps in 2017 and 2018.
 
Scouting Alaska Anchorage (7-5, 2-2 GNAC)
> The Seawolves won their last two games, featuring a 61-57 home win on Jan. 3 that stopped Western Oregon's 20-game GNAC winning streak.
 
> Tyler Brimhall leads Anchorage with 17.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Niko Bevens chips in 12.4 points.
 
> The road team won six of the last seven meetings in the UAA-SPU series that is tied at 38-38 after the Falcons 64-51 win in the 2018 GNAC Tournament quarterfinals in Anchorage.
 
> They split two regular-season meetings last year with SPU winning 57-54 on Jan. 6 in Anchorage and the Seawolves getting a 67-62 decision on Feb. 1 in Seattle.
 
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 8.7 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 15.0-point scoring average. The 6-foot-5 junior guard has been SPU's game-high scorer five times this season with 19-point performances against Westminster (Nov. 16), St. Cloud State (Nov. 23) and Concordia-Irvine (Dec. 18) and 17 versus both Central Washington (Dec. 1) and Simon Fraser (Jan. 5). 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).
 
Carom Collector
Senior Nathan Streufert was a dominating presence on the boards last year, collecting 7.4 caroms per game to lead SPU. On Feb. 1 versus Alaska Anchorage, he out-rebounded the rest of his teammates by a 17-14 margin. Streufert grabbed 11 rebounds in this season's opening win over Westminster (Nov. 16). His father, Earl Streufert, is the boy's basketball coach at Richland (Wash.) High School.
 
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 three 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.
 
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 three talented newcomers; junior transfer Sam Boone from Lamar CC and freshmen Divant'e Moffitt and Jacob Medjo.
 
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 35-31 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.
 
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.
 
Next Week
SPU opens a four-game trip at Concordia (Jan. 17) and Western Oregon (Jan. 19).