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SEATTLE – Coleman Wooten collected 13 of his team-high 16 points during the first half Saturday, helping Seattle Pacific surge ahead early en route to a 78-50 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball triumph over Concordia-Portland at Brougham Pavilion.
 
It was the sixth straight win for the third-place Falcons (15-6), who improved to 12-4 in league action.
 
Wooten hit all five of his first-half shots, including a trio of treys. That enabled SPU to break the game open by shooting 62 percent in the first half (16 of 26), including 8-for-14 accuracy from 3-point range.
 
On the other end of the court, the Cavaliers were held without a trey in 12 attempts and shot 33 percent (9 of 27) during the opening 20 minutes.
 
"The first half we were light out. The way that our guys shared the ball and moved the ball was great," said SPU coach Grant Leep.
 
"We only had one turnover at halftime. We've been trying to pound home to our guys about taking care of the ball and guarding the 3-point line better. They didn't made a three in the first half. So a lot of the things that we have been emphasizing, we did at a high level tonight."


 
Wooten made 6 of 8 field goals and 3 of 4 treys. The 6-foot-5 senior forward was one of three Falcons to grab seven rebounds, leading SPU's 39-29 lead on the boards.
 
Saturday's performance was a continuation of a hot streak for Wooten, who was honored as the GNAC Player of the Week on Monday. He has been particularly effective from long distance, draining 13 of 19 treys in last six games.
 
"He's really shooting it well from three right now," Leep exclaimed. "Coleman is taking the right shots, being aggressive at the right times. He's very locked into what we need him to do and how we need him to play.
 
"He's such a unique matchup in what his skillset is. We can move Coleman around to different spots and put him in different situations and he just handles is very well."
 
Nikhil Lizotte added 12 points for the Falcons, who also got 10 from both Gavin Long and Divant'e Moffitt.
 
SPU shot 48 percent for the game (27 of 56) and made 10 of 28 treys.
 
Dakota Ayala notched 17 points and Tyler Wells had 11 for the Cavaliers (9-15), who dropped to 4-12 in GNAC games.
 
All 10 players that saw time for SPU scored a basket, including reserve guard Conner Van Dyken. He played the last six minutes and recorded the game's final points on a layup. Van Dyken made a sharp cut to the basket and Cavell set him up with a perfect pass.
 
"The fun part is, when we put Conner in we know we can still run all of our stuff and do all of the things that we need to do," Leep explained. "He just plays right. As a kid who wants to coach someday, he plays like that when he's out there.
 
"The fact that our guys are aware of the situation and they look for him in certain spots, that's a real testament to the togetherness and the trust that this team has built amongst each other."
 
The Falcons completed a sweep of the season series with Concordia, but Saturday's margin was drastically different than that of their first encounter. On Jan. 17 in Portland, it took a buzzer-beating putback by Nathan Streufert to secure an 80-78 victory.
 
In the Seattle rematch, Ayala scored the Cavaliers first seven points. He made two layups to put them up 4-3.
 
SPU netted the next seven points, surging into the lead for good at 10-4 with 16:15 left in the half.
 
A second Concordia player finally scored a point, nearly seven minutes into the game, when Cody Starr nailed a mid-range jumper to draw his team within 16-9.

 

A run of eight straight SPU points followed, extending that margin to 24-9.
 
The lead continued to grow as the Falcons put together a pair of seven-point runs.
 
The second spree came at the end of the half. Lizotte converted four consecutive free throws and Long hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 3.9 seconds showing on the clock, producing a 48-19 halftime advantage.
 
The 19 points were a season-low first-half total for an SPU opponent and Ayala accounted for 11 of those.
 
Concordia scored the first eight points of the second half, including success on their first two 3-point tries. That closed the gap to 48-27.
 
But SPU repelled the rally with a 3-pointer from Cavell and layup by Wooten, off a fine feed from Long. That ignited a 15-7 run, capped by Sharif Khan's driving layup, to forge a 63-34 lead with 12:08 remaining.
 
The Cavaliers never drew closer than 23 after that. They finished the game shooting 38 percent (21 of 56), but hit only 3 of 20 attempts from 3-point range.
 
The Falcons continue their four-game homestand on Tuesday when league-leading and 14th-ranked Saint Martin's visits Brougham Pavilion for a 7 p.m. clash. The Saints won this season's first encounter, 89-77, on Jan. 19 in Lacey, Wash.
 
Coach Leep wants his team to carry over Saturday's smothering 3-point defense into Tuesday's contest.
 
"I sure hope so. Saint Martin's is a very good team and they've been the class of the league all year long. Making 10 threes a game, they can really shoot it. So we have to be very disciplined and very ready to be able to find ways to get the off of the arc."
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 78, Concordia-Portland 50
 
CONCORDIA-PORTLAND (9-15, 4-12 GNAC)
Sweet 0-5 0-0 0, Ayala 7-14 3-4 17, Bradley 1-1 0-0 2, Wells 4-7 0-0 11, Gray 3-10 0-1 6, Smith 2-4 2-2 6, Butler 2-5 0-0 4, Starr 1-6 0-0 2, Cates 1-3 0-0 2, Thiesen 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Agost 0-0 0-0 0, Wheeler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-56 5-7 50.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (15-6, 12-4 GNAC)
Wooten 6-8 1-4 16, Streufert 3-5 1-4 7, Cavell 3-12 2-2 9, Lizotte 3-5 4-4 12, Long 4-5 0-0 10, Moffitt 2-4 6-7 10, Simpson 2-8 0-0 5, Khan 2-4 0-0 5, Van Dyken 1-3 0-0 2, Boone 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 27-56 14-21 78.
 
Concordia-Portland............  19   31  -   50
Seattle Pacific...............  48   30  -   78
 
3-point goals--CU 3-20 (Wells 3-6, Gray 0-4, Smith 0-2, Butler 0-2, Starr 0-2, Cates 0-2, Sweet 0-2), SPU 10-28 (Wooten 3-4, Lizotte 2-3, Long 2-2;, Khan 1-3, Cavell 1-6, Simpson 1-7, Van Dyken 0-2, Moffitt 0-1). Fouled out--CU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--CU 29 (Bradley 5), SPU 39 (Cavell, Wooten, Streufert 7). Assists--CU 8 (Sweet, Gray 2), SPU 12 (Long 3). Total fouls--CU 20, SPU 14. Technical fouls--CU-None, SPU-None. A-438.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
(#14) Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific
Tuesday, Feb. 19, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash