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GNAC/PacWest Challenge
CU Arena / Irvine, California
• Webcast & LiveStats:  https://portal.stretchinternet.com/cui/  
 
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Seattle Pacific vs. Azusa Pacific,  2:00 p.m. PST
 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16
Seattle Pacific at Concordia-Irvine,  7:30 p.m. PST
 
The upcoming road trip will be a doozy! Following a winless three-game homestand, Seattle Pacific embarks on a six-game men's basketball road trip where many perennial playoff contenders will be encountered. The Falcons (0-3) travel to Southern California this week for the GNAC/PacWest Challenge, beginning with a Friday, Nov. 15 matchup against Azusa Pacific (2-1). That game is slated for 2 p.m. at CU Arena where SPU meets tournament host and 23rd-ranked Concordia-Irvine (4-1) on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Upcoming road games include visits to Sonoma State (Nov. 26) and 2019 NCAA Division II national runner-up Point Loma (Nov. 30) before GNAC contests at Central Washington (Dec. 5) and Northwest Nazarene (Dec. 7). The SPU men will have been on the road for over a month between their Nov. 12 game and the next home game, Dec. 20 versus Puget Sound.

 

Youth Being Served
Only six of the 14 players on the roster had ever before worn an SPU uniform and just two of them were primary starters last season (Harry Cavell, Gavin Long). The rotation of 11 players utilized so far includes seven underclassmen. Five of those are freshmen, with red-shirt frosh Jacob Medjo and Filip Fullerton joined by true freshmen Shaw Anderson, Jacob Parola and Zack Paulsen. A pair of sophomores, Divant'e Moffitt and Braden Olsen, share the point-guard duties. The infusion of newcomers also features starting center Mehdi El Mardi, a junior transfer from Trevecca Nazarene, and incoming freshmen Chris Penner and Clayton Whitman.
 
Last Week
The Falcons started the season with three home losses, but got progressively better as the six active newcomers and five returnees began to gel. After trailing early, SPU went on a 15-2 run but still lost its opener 75-53 to Chico State (Nov. 8). Gavin Long and Jacob Medjo each had nine points to pace the Falcons. Despite a 15-point first-half lead and 18 points from Harry Cavell, SPU lost 64-58 to Cal Poly Pomona (Nov. 9). Divant'e Moffitt tallied 14 points for the Falcons, who twice staged second-half comebacks before falling 75-71 to Stanislaus State (Nov. 12).
 
2020 Season Preview
Two starters return from the Seattle Pacific team that posted a 22-7 record in 2019, won the GNAC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA West Regional semifinal. Headlining the list of returnees is leading scorer Gavin Long. The 6-foot-5 senior guard averaged 14.4 points en route to second-team All-GNAC honors. Junior guard Harry Cavell is also back after averaging 10.2 points as a starter in 2019. A quartet of returning guards bolsters that starting tandem, a group that includes Gabe Colosimo, Sharif Khan, Divant'e Moffitt and Braden Olsen. Graduation hit the frontcourt hard, but capable reinforcements are prepared to fill the void. The Falcons have two transfers eligible at the center position, Filip Fullerton from Portland State and Mehdi El Mardi from Trevecca Nazarene. A fantastic five-man freshman class is brimming with talent and only lacks experience in the college game. All five were standouts in the Washington state prep ranks. The frosh class is comprised of Shaw Anderson (Kelso HS), Jacob Parola (Gonzaga Prep HS), Zack Paulsen (Curtis HS), Chris Penner (Capital HS) and Clayton Whitman (Lynden HS).
 
Scouting Azusa Pacific (2-1)
> The Cougars won their first two games, over Cal Poly Pomona and Chico State in SPU's Sodexo Classic, before losing 90-82 at home to Cal State L.A.
 
> A high-scoring quartet leads the APU attack, topped by Jake Spurgeon's 17.7-point average. Brennan Rymer averages 16.0 points, Selom Mawugbe 15.3 and Ben Avera 15.0.
 
> Mawugbe contributes a whopping 12.0 rebounds per game and has already amassed 14 blocked shots.
 
> Longtime assistant coach and former playing standout Peter Bond took over the coaching reigns at Azusa in May.
 
> The Falcons own a 6-2 lead in the all-time series, including wins in the most recent two matchups. They were 83-65 victors in Seattle on Nov. 17, 2018 in the last meeting. Azusa's last victory over SPU was 77-66 decision on Mar. 11, 2016 in a first-round NCAA Tournament game in Monmouth, Ore.
 
Scouting Concordia-Irvine (4-1)
> Concordia is located in Irvine, California and is a former NAIA competitor now competing in the NCAA Division II and PacWest Conference.
 
> The 23rd-ranked Eagles sandwiched a pair of back-to-back wins around a 91-83 loss to Ferris State. Their most recent set of consecutive victories came against Cal State L.A. (90-76) and Cal State San Marcos (68-66).
 
> Rob McCoy was honored as the PacWest Defender of the Week, but he also excels on the offensive end. The 6-foot-7 senior forward averages a team-high 11.6 points and also tops the squad with 7.8 rebounds per contest along with eight blocked shots. McCoy transferred from Portland State where he was teammates last year with SPU's Filip Fullerton.
 
> Coach Ken Ammann, a former standout player at Stanford, is in his 19th year at Concordia with a career record of 469-149.
 
> SPU and CUI met last season for just the third time ever with the Falcons notching a 76-59 win in Irvine on Dec. 18, 2018 behind 19 points from Gavin Long. SPU also won the previous meeting, 79-56, at home on Nov. 17, 2017. The first encounter, on Nov. 13, 2015 in St. George, Utah, resulted in a 68-60 overtime win for the Eagles.
 
Falcons Fast Fact
The Falcons fashioned a 13-game win streak from Jan. 31 to Mar. 15, 2019 that was their longest since a school-record stretch of 15 straight victories in 2002. Last year's win streak was stopped by a 67-63 loss to Saint Martin's in the NCAA West Region semifinal that ended the Falcons season.
 
On the Rebound
The Falcons led the GNAC and ranked No. 10 nationally in rebound margin in 2019, averaging 7.3 more boards in games than their foes. SPU compiled a 19-5 record when outrebounding opponents in 2019 and collected more caroms in all but six contests.
 
Notable
 

Senior Gavin Long and junior Harry Cavell were named to the 15-man Preseason All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference team and the Falcons were picked second in the coaches preseason poll ... SPU was ranked No. 23 in the final 2019 coaches poll, its first national recognition since a No. 25 ranking on Feb. 16, 2016.
 
Gavin the Great
Senior Gavin Long currently leads SPU with 12.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He is a two-time All-GNAC selection, earning second-team honors last year after honorable mention acclaim in 2019. The 6-foot-5 guard led the Falcons with a 14.4-point scoring average last year. In the 2019 GNAC Tournament championship game he tallied 17 points, in the process becoming the 37th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point career milestone. With 1,083 career points, Long currently ranks No. 29 among all-time Falcons scorers. He registered a career-high 27-point effort against Northwest Nazarene in the GNAC Tournament semifinal on Mar. 8, 2019.
 
20-Game Winners
The Falcons' GNAC Tournament semifinal win on March 8 clinched a 20-win season in 2019, the first under third-year coach Grant Leep. They achieved 20 wins for the 25th time in the program's 75-year history.
 
Coach Leep
Grant Leep, 40, begins his fourth season directing the SPU men's basketball program after seven years as an assistant on the Falcons staff. He has a 51-38 career record. Leep coached the 2019 team to a 22-7 record that featured a late 13-game winning streak. His Falcons won the GNAC Tournament and advanced to the West Regional semifinal of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Leep 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 Tournament
SPU captured its fourth GNAC Tournament title last year, adding a 2019 trophy to the display that includes hardware from three consecutive seasons between 2013-15. The conference determines its automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division II Tournament with a post-season playoff. The top-six finishers in the regular-season standings will participate in the GNAC Tournament. All of the conference's 2020 men's and women's playoff games will be contested at SPU's Brougham Pavilion. The top-two seeds receive a first-round bye while the lower seeds meet on March 5. The semifinals are set for March 6 and the championship game is March 7.
 
2019 Season Review
The Falcons returned to the NCAA Division II Tournament after a two-year absence. They reeled off 13 consecutive victories en route to a GNAC Tournament championship and appearance in the NCAA West Regional semifinal. SPU's final record of 22-7 included a 16-4 league ledger that was good for second place in the GNAC standings. Coleman Wooten earned first-team All-GNAC honors, Gavin Long was a second-teamer and Nikhil Lizotte garnered honorable mention acclaim.
 
Postseason Pursuit
SPU seeks to return to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second straight season after a two-year absence in 2017 and 2018. 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.