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IRVINE, Calif. – The Falcons turned up the heat on defense and cooked up their first win of the season Saturday. And it was delicious.
 
Filip Fullerton compiled 14 of his career-high 16 points during the second half, helping Seattle Pacific break away from Concordia-Irvine en route to an 80-66 decision at CU Arena.
 
The 6-foot-9 center, who transferred from Portland State prior to the season, made 6 of 9 shots from the field and all four of his free throws.
 
"Tonight, we were just playing fast, we were playing loose, we were playing free. That's a good recipe to play well," exclaimed SPU coach Grant Leep.
 
"I'm so proud of our group. We've worked really hard and it didn't come easy for us, but what in life that's worth it does? Our guys just stayed the course, they stayed true."
 
The Falcons (1-4) put an end to their slowest start since the 1980-81 team also opened the season with four losses. Saturday's game concluded a hectic schedule of five games in nine days.
 
The Eagles (4-3) lost at home to a GNAC opponent for the second straight night. Western Washington beat them, 79-72, on Friday.

Stifling Defense
Concordia was held 14 points below the 80-point scoring average it brought into Saturday's game as SPU's stifling defense forced 15 turnovers and parlayed those directly into 18 points.
 
Fullerton keyed the pivotal stretch that gave SPU control. He scored six straight points, beginning with two free throws with 6:18 left to play. Gavin Long converted the first of two attempts from the line to cap the seven-point run at 4:06 with the visitors up 66-58.
 
Defense played a huge role as well, as the Falcons forced two turnovers and six consecutive missed shot attempts in that span.
 
After Darius Lee drew the Eagles within 59-58 on a layup with 6:37 remaining, they did not make another basket for six minutes. Concordia got only three free throws during that stretch.
 
By the time Kayle Knuckles hit a 3-pointer with 38 seconds showing on the clock, the Falcons had a comfortable 78-64 advantage.
 
Frequent Flyers at Free Throw Line
SPU got nine of its final 12 points from the free throw line, hitting 9 of 10 over the final 2:21. For the game, the Falcons made 26 of 29 free throws. They gained 15 more points at the line than Irvine, which shot 11-for-21 from the stripe.
 
"The last few years, we've always been a team that does a good job of attacking and getting to the free throw line," Leep said. "The first four games of the year we didn't get to the free throw line a bunch, and tonight we did."
 
Joining Fullerton in double figures for SPU were Harry Cavell and Braden Olsen with 14 points apiece. Cavell tallied 11 of his points in the first half that ended tied, 32-32.
 
Olsen was a perfect 8-for-8 on free throws and led the team with five assists.

Dynamic Duo
 

Leep had high praise for both Fullerton and Olsen.
 
"Filip was extremely efficient. He finished plays in the paint, he was tough and he was physical when he needed to be. He did a really good job of being on the receiving end of a lot of those drive and assists from Braden.
 
"Braden did a really good job tonight of running our offense. He got us in positions where he could make the right reads and the right plays. Braden was able to get himself into the paint and then make the right decisions. He played phenomenal basketball tonight."
 
Robert McCoy scored 12 points to pace the Eagles, who also got 11 from Knuckles and Robert Taylor as well as 10 apiece from Jamel White and Jalen Sanders.
 
The teams were dead-even in field goal accuracy, each shooting 49 percent with 24 makes in 49 attempts. The Falcons nailed one fewer 3-pointer (6 of 12) than did their hosts (7 of 16).
 
First-Half Summary
After yielding the opening basket, and then trailing 4-2, SPU reeled off 10 unanswered points. Zack Paulsen's trey with 15:11 left in the half provided a 12-4 margin.
 
That differential nudged up to nine points before the Eagles constructed a 12-3 run to draw even, 18-18.
 
SPU surged to a six-point lead, but Concordia closed the half on a 9-3 spree to forge a 32-32 halftime scoreline.
 
Next Up
The Falcons men take a break from games next week and resume action on Nov. 26 at Sonoma State. That game will be followed on Nov. 30 by a visit to San Diego, Calif. to take on 2019 NCAA Division II national runner-up Point Loma.
 
Leep hopes the extended practice time before those road games will enable his Falcons to build on the momentum from Saturday's triumph.
 
"Our guys are buying into the identity that we created as a team and we took a huge step forward with that tonight. If we stay true to that with all of the games left on our schedule, then we're going to be in really good shape."
  
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019
CU Arena / Irvine, Calif.
 
Seattle Pacific 80, at Concordia-Irvine 66
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (1-4)
Anderson 3-6 0-0 7, Fullerton 6-9 4-4 16, Cavell 5-7 2-4 14, Moffitt 2-7 6-6 10, Long 1-5 4-5 6, Olsen 3-6 8-8 14, Khan 2-4 0-0 6, Paulsen 1-3 2-2 5, El Mardi 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-49 26-29 80.
 
CONCORDIA-IRVINE (4-3)
McCoy 5-10 1-7 12, Knuckles 3-5 3-3 11, White 3-7 2-2 10, Green 1-3 0-0 2, Sanders 4-5 2-2 10, Taylor 4-5 2-2 11, Mellinger 2-5 0-0 5, Lee 2-7 0-2 4, English 0-1 1-3 1, Gray 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-49 11-21 66.
 
Seattle Pacific...............   32   48  -   80
Concordia-Irvine..............   32   34  -   66
 
3-point goals--SPU 6-12 (Khan 2-3, Cavell 2-3, Anderson 1-1, Paulsen 1-3, Long 0-1, Olsen 0-1), CUI 7-16 (Knuckles 2-4, White 2-4, McCoy 1-3, Mellinger 1-2, Taylor 1-1, Gray 0-1, Lee 0-1). Fouled out--SPU-None, CUI-Robert Taylor. Rebounds--SPU 29 (Cavell 6), CUI 27 (McCoy 6). Assists--SPU 13 (Olsen 5), CUI 14 (Green 4). Total fouls--SPU 16, CUI 21. Technical fouls--SPU-None, CUI-None. A-222.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Sonoma State
Tuesday, Nov. 26, 5:00 p.m. PST
The Wolves' Den / Rohnert Park, Calif.