• FINAL STATS   |   • VIDEO: SAM  SIMPSON
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SEATTLE – Gavin Long compiled nine of his 20 points during the final nine minutes Thursday, helping Seattle Pacific complete a comeback and defeat Montana State Billings, 76-67, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game.
 
The Falcons (17-6) extended their winning streak to a season-best eight games. They improved to 14-4 in conference play, drawing within one-half game of league-leading Saint Martin's (14-3) and vaulting into second place ahead of Northwest Nazarene (13-4), which lost 81-66 at Western Oregon on Thursday.
 
Seattle Pacific completed the home portion of its schedule with an 11-1 mark, the best season record at Brougham Pavilion since the 2013 squad went 12-1.
 
Thursday's victory avenged SPU's largest loss of the season, a 92-63 setback on Jan. 26 in Billings.
 
Seattle Pacific trailed the entire game until the midway point of the second half. A miscue-filled first period with 11 turnovers enabled the Yellowjackets to build a pair of 10-point leads.
 
A second-half rally brought the Falcons close, but they weren't able to gain a lead until 9:59 showed on the clock and Harry Cavell nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner off a pass from Sharif Khan. That provided a 55-54 edge and SPU never trailed after that.
 
"The way that we responded in the second half was wonderful," said third-year SPU coach Grant Leep. "Gavin came in with a lot of energy and was doing things on both ends of the floor. His defense was terrific, he was very disciplined and into the right spots and that helped turn them over 18 times.
 
"Coleman (Wooten) played all 20 minutes in the second half and was just a warrior. Sharif Khan had five steals and was active defensively. Everybody that played, contributed something. It was just a good, solid, team win."
 
Long made 6 of 9 attempts from the field, helping the hosts shoot 47.5 percent (29 of 61).


 
Seniors Coleman Wooten and Nikhil Lizotte each contributed 14 points in their final Falcons home game and Cavell had 12.
 
Senior Sam Simpson grabbed six rebounds to lead SPU's 33-24 advantage on the boards. He corralled four of the team's 10 offensive rebounds that were parlayed into 13 second-chance points. The Falcons did not surrender any second-chance points to MSUB.
 
Prior to the game a Senior Night ceremony was conducted to honor the six Falcons making their final home playing appearance. The starting lineup was completely comprised of seniors; Lizotte, Simpson, Wooten, Nathan Streufert and Conner Van Dyken. Trey Miller was unable to play to due an injury.
 
"With Senior Night there was obviously some extra emotion, especially in the first half," Leep said. "We have some guys that are very fond of this place and the fact that it was their last game tonight in this building, there was just a little bit of extra emotion involved that may have impacted how we started."


 
The Yellowjackets (13-12) had their GNAC record drop to 8-9. They were led by the 18 points of Tyler Green, but he managed only five after halftime.
 
Brendan Howard tallied 16 points for Billings, which also got 13 from Zharon Richmond and 11 from Zach Rollins.
 
Held to 44-percent accuracy in the second half (11 of 25), that brought the Yellowjackets final figure down to 49 percent (25 of 51).
 
SPU was fortunate to only trail 37-34 at halftime after committing 10 turnovers in the opening 11 minutes.
 
Green collected 10 points in the first 12 minutes for the visitors, who claimed a 22-13 advantage.
 
The Falcons rallied to even the score, 22-22, with a run of nine points capped by back-to-back baskets from Simpson. Their ability to hold onto the ball keyed a streak of five consecutive possessions that produced points.
 
"The biggest thing is that we starting taking care of the ball. We quit turning it over" Leep said. "When we didn't turn the ball over we were able to score.
 
"In the second half we only had three turnovers and we were able to put up 42 points. As long as we took care of the ball we were finding good offense."
 
Billings responded with a 13-3 spree, the final three baskets coming from 3-point range, to go ahead 35-25 with 3:27 left in the period.
 
SPU staged another comeback, closing out the half with a 9-2 run.
 
Both teams shot well in the first half with the Yellowjackets holding a slim 53.8 percent (14 of 26) to 53.6 percent (15 of 28) edge. They did a lot of damage from long distance, nailing 6 of 10 treys while SPU was only 2-for-10 from 3-point range.
 
The Falcons countered with solid inside scoring, compiling a 24-8 lead over points in the paint.
 
Green netted 13 first-half points on 4-for-6 shooting, including 2-for-3 accuracy on treys.
 
The SPU men trimmed the halftime margin to one point, at 39-38, two minutes into the second half. They tied the score, 48-48, on a pair of free throws from Wooten with 13:30 remaining.
 
With MSUB leading 52-48 it took a 7-2 surge, ignited by consecutive driving layups from Wooten, for the Falcons to finally take the lead on Cavell's trey.
 
After the Yellowjackets leveled the score, 57-57, SPU reeled off eight straight points to seize control.
 
Long converted 5 of 6 free throws during the final 4:34 to secure the victory.
 
The Falcons close out their regular-season schedule on the road next week. They visit Central Washington on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. Pacific Time.
 
A second-place GNAC battle looms next Friday, March 2, when SPU visits Nampa, Idaho for a 6 p.m. PST contest.
 
"Not to be cliché, but it's one game at a time for us, and making sure that our guys keep their focus on what's in front of us," Leep said. "This group has been very mature in how they've handled that and it has put us in a position to play for some significant things next week."
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 76, Montana State Billings 67
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (13-12, 8-9 GNAC)
Richmond 5-10 2-2 13, Newbern Jr 1-3 0-0 2, Rollins 4-10 0-0 11, Jeuschede 1-4 0-0 3,Green 5-11 6-6 18, Howard 7-11 1-2 16, Terashima 2-2 0-0 4, Christiaens 0-0 0-0 0, Lehrer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 9-10 67.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (17-6, 14-4 GNAC)
Wooten 5-7 2-2 14, Simpson 4-11 1-1 9, Streufert 1-4 0-0 2, Lizotte 6-14 0-0 14, Van Dyken 0-0 0-0 0, Long 6-9 8-9 20, Cavell 5-10 0-0 12, Boone 1-1 0-0 3, Khan 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 29-61 11-12 76.
 
Montana State Billings............  37   30  -   67
Seattle Pacific...................  34   42  -   76
 
3-point goals--MSUB 8-20 (Rollins 3-8, Green 2-6, Howard 1-1, Jeuschede 1-2, Richmond 1-3), SPU 7-24 (Wooten 2-4, Lizotte 2-8, Cavell 2-5, Boone 1-1, Khan 0-3, Simpson 0-3). Fouled out--MSUB-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--MSUB 24 (Howard 6), SPU 33 (Simpson 6). Assists--MSUB 9 (Rollins 3), SPU 10 (Lizotte 3). Total fouls--MSUB 14, SPU 14. Technical fouls--MSUB-None, SPU-None. A-387.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Central Washington
Thursday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m. PST
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash