• FINAL STATS
   • POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – In Point Loma's Golden Gymnasium, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Falcons appeared dead in the water. But Gavin Long came to their rescue.
 
Long compiled 17 of his 21 points during the second half Friday, including the game-winning basket with 1.8 seconds left that sent 23rd-ranked Seattle Pacific into the second round of the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament with a 77-75 comeback victory over Chaminade.
 
The SPU men rallied from 13 points behind over the final 8-minutes, 10-seconds, the largest deficit they have overcome to win a game this season.
 
When Grant Dressler made a 3-pointer with 8:31 left to play, he put the Silverswords out in front by a seemingly decisive 62-49 margin.
 
Long, Nikhil Lizotte and Coleman Wooten each tallied eight points after that, helping the second-seeded Falcons close the game with a 28-13 run.
 
"As we adjusted, we were able to get the ball to Gavin, find Nikhil for some open shot and Coleman stepped up and made some big plays," said SPU coach Grant Leep. "Our guys just did a great job of continuing to attack, believing in each other, trusting one another and just slowly chipping away with that comeback."
 
Lizotte's two free throws with 56.8 seconds remaining provided SPU's first lead, at 75-73, since the 8:44 mark of the first half. A steal and fastbreak layup by Tyler Cartaino evened the score, 75-75, with 16 seconds to play.
 
The Falcons got the ball to Long, who ran the clock down before driving along the right baseline for a contested layup that proved to be the game winner.
 
"We were trying to run the same play the time before and I ended up turning it over," Long explained. "My coaches, they had faith in me to run the same thing and told me to go get a bucket. That's what I did. I just wanted to get the win for all these guys."


 
A junior guard, Long hit 7 of 13 shots and went 6-for-8 from the free throw line to pace SPU.
 
Lizotte hit four 3-pointers en route to his 19 points while Wooten finished with 15 points and collected 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double.
 
Seattle Pacific (22-6) won its 13th consecutive game, just two shy of the school-record 15-game winning streak recorded by the 2002 squad.
 
Friday's win sets up a rubber match on Saturday at 5 p.m. between conference regular-season champion Saint Martin's and the GNAC Tournament titlist Falcons. They split two prior meetings this season with the Saints winning 80-63 on Jan. 22 in Lacey, Wash. and SPU getting a 67-63 decision in the rematch on Feb. 19 in Seattle.
 
Saint Martin's (25-5), the No. 3 seed, advanced to the West Regional semifinal by virtue of a 63-60 first-round win over Concordia-Irvine.
 
"They are a great team and they played well all year long," Leep said of the Saints. "It's nice being able to be familiar with what they do and how they do what they do. But that flips around, they know us inside and out as well. We're looking forward to that matchup."
 
Chaminade (23-8), the region's No. 7 seed, saw its season end despite a game-high 26-point performance from Dressler.
 
Cartaino contributed 16 points, Erik Scheive had 13 and Jake Hutchings 11.
 
The Silverswords shot 45.8 percent from the floor (27 of 59), a figure they matched from 3-point range (11 of 24).
 
Long's final basket brought SPU's shooting accuracy to 50 percent (28 of 56), including a 9-for-23 effort on treys.
 
Fueling the Falcons rally inside the final seven minutes was their ability on four occasions to answer Chaminade points with back-to-back scoring possessions. The last of those came after Dressler's 3-pointer put his team up 73-68.
 
Long responded with a three-point play followed by a driving layup from Lizotte that evened the score, 73-73, with 1:42 left to play and set up the dramatic finish.

 
Early in the first half, the Falcons went ahead, 11-7, on back-to-back 3-pointers from Lizotte and Sharif Khan. But they turned the ball over on their next three possessions, enabling Chaminade to score eight straight points and claim a 15-11 edge.
 
Khan put a stop to that run with another trey and Long followed with a fastbreak layup, putting SPU in front again, 16-15 with 10:46 left in the half.
 
After Lizotte nailed his third 3-pointer, with 9:33 showing on the clock, the Falcons claimed their last lead, 19-17, until the game's final minute.
 
Chaminade netted the next five points to ignite a 14-2 spree. Cartaino sparked the run with six points, including a pair of free throws to build a 31-21 advantage.
 
Reserve guard Divant'e Moffitt stopped SPU's three-minute scoring drought with a reverse layup. He later hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key just before the shot clock expired with 23 seconds remaining. That trey drew the Falcons within 35-31 at halftime.
 
The Silverswords forced nine first-half turnovers and parlayed them directly into 18 points. They registered eight second-chance points and SPU had none despite each team grabbing five offensive and 15 total rebounds.
 
"We go into the locker room at halftime and we had given up nine turnovers for 18 points. And then they had eight second-chance points. That's 26 of their 35 at halftime," Leep said. "In the second half we quit turning the ball over.
 
"We did a better job and kind of scrapped our way to find some easier buckets off offensive rebounds in the second half. We just slowly started chipping away. Nobody tried to do to much. They stuck together, the ball kept moving, we got some easy shots and our guys were able to finish."
 
The SPU men are making their 28th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, but their first since 2016 . They advanced to the national semifinals in 2000 and 2006.

The first-round games went to form as the higher seed won each matchup. The other semifinal features host Point Loma against UC San Diego. PLNU defeated Western Oregon 70-58 and the Tritons beat Cal Poly Pomona 61-50.
 
The winner of Saturday's semifinal game earns a spot in the West Regional championship game. That will be played Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Golden Gymnasium.
 
 
NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
West Regional
Golden Gymnasium/San Diego, Calif.
Friday, March 15, 2019
 
(#23) Seattle Pacific 77, Chaminade 75
 
CHAMINADE (23-8)
Cartaino 6-11 4-4 16, Scheive 5-11 2-2 13, Arissol 3-7 0-2 9, Anderson 0-4 0-0 0, Dressler 9-20 3-4 26, Hutchings 4-6 1-1 11, Swain 0-0 0-0 0, Young 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-59 10-13 75.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (22-6)
Wooten 7-15 1-1 15, Streufert 1-3 0-0 2, Cavell 1-2 0-0 2, Lizotte 6-10 3-3 19, Long 7-13 6-8 21, Moffitt 3-4 0-0 7, Khan 2-3 0-0 6, Simpson 1-5 2-2 5, Boone 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-56 12-14 77.
 
Chaminade.....................   35   40  -   75
Seattle Pacific...............   31   46  -   77
 
3-point goals--CU 11-24 (Dressler 5-9, Arissol 3-4, Hutchings 2-4, Scheive 1-3, Anderson 0-3, Cartaino 0-1), SPU 9-23 (Lizotte 4-8, Khan 2-3, Moffitt 1-1, Simpson 1-5, Long 1-2, Wooten 0-4). Fouled out--CU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--CU 30 (Cartaino 9), SPU 32 (Wooten 11). Assists--CU 12 (Anderson, Dressler, Grant 3), SPU 15 (Moffitt 4). Total fouls--CU 17, SPU 17. Technical fouls--CU-None, SPU-None. A-212.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
NCAA Tournament West Regional Semifinal
Saint Martin's vs. Seattle Pacific
Saturday, March 16, 5:00 p.m. PDT
Golden Gymnasium / San Diego, Calif.