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ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Divant'e Moffitt produced his second straight 20-point performance and Harry Cavell added 19 points Thursday for Seattle Pacific, which opened Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball play with a 76-66 road win over Central Washington at Nicholson Pavilion.
 
Moffitt compiled 13 of his 20 points during the second half, including the go-ahead basket. He was named the GNAC Player of the Week on Monday after amassing a career-high 29 points in Saturday's 96-89 victory at Point Loma.
 
The sophomore point guard from Spanaway Lake (Wash.) High School hit 8 of 16 shots from the field and also contributed five rebounds and four assists versus Central.
 
Harry can Carry the Load
Cavell came within one point of his career-best point total of 20. He recorded his second double-double of the season by grabbing 10 rebounds to lead SPU's 34-31 edge on the boards. The junior guard shot 6-for-8 from the field, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
 
"It's really fun watching Harry play at the level that he's playing right now," said SPU coach Grant Leep. " He's been shooting the ball very well and he made three 3-pointers tonight.
 
"Harry brings such versatility. He can shoot it, he can get in the paint and finish, he can rebound, he can play in the post a little bit and he can get out and run the floor in transition. He just does so many good things. He plays so well within our system."
 
Also reaching double-figure points for SPU were Shaw Anderson and Filip Fullerton with 12 apiece.
 
Back to .500
After starting the season with four losses, the Falcons (4-4) evened their record with a fourth consecutive road win.
 
"Anytime that you are on the road it's always a pretty big challenge. I was really pleased with how our guys handled that," Leep said. "It was our fifth consecutive game on the road and I'm really proud of how our group handled the environment tonight against a tough opponent on their home floor."
 
The last time a Seattle Pacific team followed a four-game losing skid with four consecutive wins was 1995 when the team responded to four consecutive losses by reeling off six straight victories.
 
The Wildcats (5-2) lost for just the second time. They were led by the matching 14-point efforts of reserves Jeryn Lucas and Kevin Baker.
 
Central Comes Back
A layup by Gavin Long followed by a Cavell 3-pointer gave SPU its largest lead of the night, 46-35, three minutes into the second half.
 
The Wildcats refused to go away. They battled back, scoring the next eight points to ignite a 19-6 surge that netted their first lead since the 10th minute.
 
Baker fueled the CWU rally with 12 points on a trio of 3-pointers and a conventional three-point play, with a layup and free throw. Two of his treys completed the run, forging a 54-52 lead with 11:40 left to play.
 
A layup by Cavell leveled the score, 54-54, with 11:15 remaining and then the teams were both scoreless for over two minutes.

 

Moffitt ended that drought. He registered the go-ahead basket, stepping back at the top of the key before draining a 3-pointer with 9:07 remaining.
 
After Xavier Smith hit two free throws to close that gap to 57-56, the Falcons tallied the next five points to start pulling away.
 
Moffitt produced all of his 13 second-half points in the final 9:07 to secure the result.
 
"Central is a good team and when we went into halftime with a lead, we knew they weren't going to stop. They were going to keep coming out and playing hard, that's what they do," Leep described. "When they came back and took that lead from us and went up two, we took a timeout.
 
"That was really good for our team just to embrace that moment. We had seen adversity and had been in these situations before and handled it. Sure enough, our guys came out and responded extremely well. We started getting some defensive stops, we started executing our offense and finding open shots and finishing plays."
 
The visitors shot 55 percent for the game (29 of 53) and made 10 of 24 treys. Central was held to 41-percent shooting (24 of 29) and 10 of 27 from 3-point range.
 
Stellar First-Half Shooting
A 13-point run midway through the first half created a seemingly comfortable margin for the Falcons. They trailed 21-17 after back-to-back layups by Central's Marqus Gilson and Lucas. Those would be the hosts last points for the next 4 1/2 minutes.
 
Cavell started the SPU spree with a 3-pointer from the left corner with 10:10 showing on the clock and Anderson replicated that 26 seconds later. Each of them added a jumper during the surge that Moffitt capped with a driving basket in the lane. He was fouled and sank the subsequent free throw to provide a 30-21 advantage with 6:32 left in the period.
 
The teams traded points the rest of the half that Moffitt ended with another driving floater in the key to send the Falcons into intermission with a 41-32 lead.
 
Sizzling shooting sparked SPU, which shot 63 percent (17 of 27) in the first half, including 6-for-12 accuracy from 3-point range. The Wildcats were limited to 43-percent (13 of 30) in the opening 20 minutes and they made just 4 of 15 treys.
 
End of the Road
The SPU men conclude their current six-game road trip on Saturday in Nampa, Idaho. They visit Northwest Nazarene for a 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time game that is a rematch of the 2019 conference playoff semifinal that the Falcons won, 89-81, en route to their fourth GNAC Tournament title.
 
"It's really important for us to finish this road trip the right way," said Leep. "This is a difficult trip with such a quick turnaround. We bus back from Ellensburg to Seattle and get back really late. Then we leave early Friday morning and fly over to Idaho and there's a time change.
 
"There are a lot of challenges that are in front of us and we need to embrace those challenges and continue to improve."
 
The Falcons host one final home game in the 2019 calendar year, concluding their non-conference schedule against Puget Sound on Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. on Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 76, at Central Washington 66
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (4-4, 1-0 GNAC)
Anderson 4-7 1-2 12, Fullerton 5-6 1-2 12, Cavell 6-8 4-4 19, Moffitt 8-16 2-4 20, Long 1-5 0-0 2, Olsen 2-4 0-1 4, Khan 1-4 0-0 3, El Mardi 1-1 0-0 2, Medjo 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 29-53 8-14 76.
 
CENTRAL WASHINGTON (5-2, 0-1 GNAC)
Poquette 2-6 2-2 6, Woody 2-4 0-1 4, Boykin 2-4 0-0 5, Bolton 2-7 0-0 6, Smith 2-9 4-4 9, Baker 5-6 1-2 14, Lucas 6-13 0-0 14, Pollard 2-7 1-2 6, Gilson 1-1 0-0 2, Stafford 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 8-11 66.
 
Seattle Pacific.............   41   35  -   76
Central Washington..........   32   34  -   66
 
3-point goals--SPU 10-24 (Cavell 3-5, Anderson 3-5, Moffitt 2-4, Khan 1-4, Fullerton 1-2, Long 0-2, Olsen 0-2), CWU 10-27 (Baker 3-3, Bolton 2-4, Lucas 2-8, Smith 1-4, Pollard 1-4, Boykin 1-2, Stafford 0-2). Fouled out--SPU-None, CWU-None. Rebounds--SPU 34 (Cavell 10), CWU 31 (Poquette 9). Assists--SPU 12 (Moffitt 4), CWU 15 (Boykin, Baker 4). Total fouls--SPU 14, CWU 15. Technical fouls--SPU-None, CWU-None. A-897.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
Saturday, Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m. PST
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho