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• VIDEO: Divant'e  Moffitt dunk
• VIDEO: Shaw  Anderson interview

SEATTLE -- Gavin Long compiled 20 of his 23 points during the first half Friday, helping Seattle Pacific build an early lead en route to its sixth straight victory, 103-74, over Puget Sound in the final non-conference men's basketball game.
 
Seattle Pacific (6-4) closed out the 2019 calendar year on a hot streak with six consecutive wins immediately following a season-opening losing skid of four games. The last time an SPU team accomplished that feat was 1995 when the team responded to four consecutive losses by reeling off six victories.
 
The winningest decade in the stellar history of SPU basketball came to a close with Friday marking the program's 211th victory since the year 2010. The 211-88 record produced a 70.6 winning percentage that ranks second all-time, trailing only the 71.3 percent mark (206-83) compiled by the Falcons teams from 2000-09.
 
Long paced six SPU double-digit scorers Friday on Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion. The senior guard hit 10 of 12 shots from the field to post a season-best 23 points.
 
"That's the Gavin we know, the Gavin we're used to," SPU coach Grant Leep exclaimed. "He did a really good job of setting the tone for what we needed tonight. He found some easy shots, he finished them and then it just got him going a little bit.
 
"He's been doing that for his whole career. I can't praise Gavin enough. He made the right plays, he played hard, he finished his plays."
 
Freshman Shaw Anderson contributed 16 points, on efficient 6-for-7 shooting that included 3-for-4 accuracy on 3-pointers. He hauled in eight rebounds to help the Falcons to a 34-23 margin on the boards.
 
Divant'e Moffitt tallied 15 points, including a spectacular dunk with 8:48 left to play. The 6-foot-2 sophomore point guard beat his defender on the dribble and drove into the lane, rising high in traffic to jam the ball through the rim.

DIVANT'E MOFFITT DUNK

 Filip Fullerton scored 11 points for SPU, which also got 10 apiece from Harry Cavell and Mehdi El Mardi.
 
Spectacular Shooting Spectacle
A near record-setting display of shooting accuracy fueled the Falcons. They shot a sizzling 70 percent for the game, making 42 of 60 shots from the field. That nearly toppled the school's single-game record for field goal percentage established with a 71.2-percent performance (37 of 52) against BYU-Hawaii on Jan. 29, 2000.
 
SPU made 72.4 percent of its second-half attempts (21 of 29).
 
"Our guys attacked the paint with a purpose and they made the right plays," Leep described. "If the shot was there, we took it. If they rotated over, we found the open man. We found so many uncontested looks tonight. When you are shooting in space with nobody around you, that's what you practice.
 
"Our offense was extremely efficient tonight. That's something that we can continue. That's the next level for us, is to operate that efficiently. Obviously, we're not going to shoot 70 percent every game, but we can consistently get into the paint, make the open read and find open shots."
 
Former Rivals
SPU and Puget Sound met for the 86th time on the hardwood, but it was their first encounter since 2004. The two schools were formerly rivals in the Great Northwest Conference in the 1980s.
 
Stellan Roberts led the Loggers (6-4) with 18 points. Kobe Elsner added 16 points, Cal Hansen 12 and John Misel 10.
 
UPS (6-4), an NCAA Division II team from Tacoma, Wash., was held to 44 percent shooting from the floor (26 of 59).
 
Fantastic First Half
Long and Anderson propelled the Falcons to a 20-point first-half advantage.
 
The Falcons leading scorer in each of the last two seasons, Long entered the game averaging 10.1 points, which was low by his standards. His high game this year was 16 points. Long surpassed that figure in the first half alone with 20 points on 9-for-10 shooting before intermission.
 
Anderson nailed 4 of 5 shots to compile 11 first-half points.
 
Those two helped SPU make 68 percent of its attempts (21 of 31) before halftime.

SHAW ANDERSON INTERVIEW

 Visiting UPS battled early and got four straight points from Hansen to claim a 14-12 lead with 13:38 left in the first half.
 
The Falcons responded by scoring the next nine points to ignite a 15-2 spree that put them in control.
 
Long started the surge with a jump hook in the key to even the score and he added six more points during that stretch. A layup by Anderson capped the run that provided a 27-16 lead with 9:46 showing on the clock.
 
"I was really proud of our group tonight, especially in the first half when UPS was switching between man and zone," said Leep. "We handled it seamlessly and found great looks nearly every time they went zone we scored. Our point guards did a really nice job of executing our offense based on what defense UPS was putting on us."
 
Seattle Pacific stretched its 52-32 halftime margin to as many as 33 points during the second half.
 
Century Mark
The Falcons hit the 100-point plateau for the first time in three years, dating back to a 102-90 home win over Humboldt State in the season opener on Nov. 11, 2016.

 

Freshman reserve guard Jacob Parola had the honors of recording the 100th point, his first score as a Falcon. He converted a free throw with 1:31 remaining and quickly followed with point No. 101 on the subsequent charity shot.
 
Parola netted the game's final four points as he made a layup with 1:03 left to play.
 
Christmas Break
The team now disperses for more than a week to break for the Christmas holiday.
 
"This break is coming at a good time for us. It's going to be nice for guys to get home and be with their families," Leep said. "But then coming back off we're going to continue to pick up where we've been and have guys refreshed, bodies and minds, come out and be ready to go. We'll see if we can take it to another level."
 
Next Game
The SPU men return to action early in 2020 at home with a Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup versus Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 2. Tip-off is 5:15 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion as the opener of a doubleheader with the Falcons women.
 
Both the SPU men and Anchorage are undefeated in two conference contests.
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Friday, Dec. 20, 2019
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 103, Puget Sound 74
 
PUGET SOUND (6-4)
Erickson 1-2 2-3 4, Roberts 6-14 4-4 18, Hansen 4-8 4-7 12, Elsner 7-11 0-0 16, Basile 1-5 0-0 2, Misel 3-4 2-4 10, Nichol 2-6 1-2 6, Geathers 1-3 1-1 3, Yussuf-Willis 1-4 1-2 3, Dillingham 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Webb 0-2 0-0 0, Carey 0-0 0-0 0, Day 0-0 0-0 0, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 15-23 74.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-4)
Anderson 6-7 1-2 16, Fullerton 4-6 2-2 11, Cavell 4-6 0-0 10, Moffitt 6-9 3-3 15, Long 10-12 3-4 23, El Mardi 5-8 0-0 10, Medjo 3-6 0-0 6, Colosimo 2-2 0-0 5, Parola 1-2 2-2 4, Khan 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 42-60 11-13 103.
 
Puget Sound...................   32   42  -   74
Seattle Pacific...............   52   51  -  103
 
3-point goals--UPS 7-21 (Elsner 2-4, Misel 2-3, Roberts 2-5, Nichol 1-5, Basile 0-2, Webb 0-1, Geathers 0-1), SPU 8-18 (Anderson 3-4, Cavell 2-3, Colosimo 1-1, Fullerton 1-2, Khan 1-2, Parola 0-1, Medjo 0-2, El Mardi 0-1, Long 0-2). Fouled out--UPS-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--UPS 23 (Hansen 5), SPU 34 (Anderson, Cavell 8). Assists--UPS 10 (Roberts, Basile 3), SPU 13 (Cavell 4). Total fouls--UPS 16, SPU 21. Technical fouls--UPS-None, SPU-Moffitt. A-419.

 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Jan. 2, 5:15 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.