• POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
• FINAL STATS

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – EJ Boyce tallied 14 of his 17 points during the second half Saturday and nailed the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:36 to play, lifting 18th-ranked Saint Martin's to a 67-63 men's basketball win over No. 23 Seattle Pacific in an NCAA Division II West Regional semifinal at Golden Gymnasium.
 
The second-seeded Falcons (22-7) had their 13-game winning streak and 2019 season come to an abrupt end with their first loss since January 26.
 
"Obviously this is an opponent that we were very familiar with coming into the game. We felt like we had a very strong game plan in place," said SPU coach Grant Leep. "We did a pretty good job of executing that in the first half, but all credit to Saint Martin's, they kept battling, kept fighting, as our guys did as well.
 
"These are tough moments, the last time you are with a group. I was proud of the way we battled, the way we competed. We just came up a little short."
 
Saint Martin's (26-5) advances as the No. 3 seed to the regional championship game on Monday at 7:30 p.m. against host Point Loma.


 
An unusual, six-point second-half possession proved to be the turning point, helping swing a four-point SMU deficit into a four-point lead.
 
Gavin Long registered a three-point play to provide a 53-49 lead for the Falcons with 6:50 to play.
 
The Saints' BJ Standley answered with a driving layup and was fouled by Sam Simpson after the ball went through the basket at 6:24. The infraction was ruled a technical foul and Standley converted the two ensuing free throws.
 
SMU was also awarded the ball, and Boyce parlayed that extended custody into two free throws.
 
"I didn't really see what happened, but the way it was explained by the officials was that after the basket had gone through that they scored, our player hit their player in the face," Leep described. "It wasn't intentional by any means, but because of that it became a dead ball technical foul which is a free throw and the ball.
 
"It was tough break. Obviously we can either respond, or react in those situations. When we react it's because we're making decisions based on emotion and when we do that it's usually going to be the wrong thing. But when we respond, we compose ourselves, we process things and we can move forward. I though we reacted a little bit too much."
 
After a missed shot by SPU's Harry Cavell, Luke Chavez drove to the hoop for a layup and a 57-53 Saints advantage with 5:24 remaining.
 
The Falcons twice rallied to take a one-point lead, the last on a basket by Long with 1:49 left, and he was fouled. He missed the subsequent free throw so they settled for a 62-61 edge.
 
Boyce then hit the decisive trey and Standley followed with a pair of free throws with 27.5 seconds showing on the clock and SMU leading 66-62.
 
The Falcons came up empty on their final six attempts from the field, managing only a free throw from Simpson with 4.3 seconds left. They were unable to rebound his intentional miss on the second charity shot.
 
Rhett Baerlocher made the second of two free throws with 0.8 seconds left to secure SMU's victory.
 
Long scored 16 points to lead the Falcons for the second straight day. He had 21 points, including the game-winning layup with 1.8 seconds left, in Friday's 77-75 first-round win over Chaminade. SPU rallied from a 13-point deficit over the final 8:10 to win that one.
 
"Gavin is so competitive and so tough. He wants to win so bad," said Leep. "He's been battling all year, especially during the 13-game win streak we had. He's a very good player and he has a bright future ahead."
 
Cavell finished with 13 points Saturday and Divant'e Moffitt added 11 for the Falcons.
 
Simpson gathered 11 rebounds, one-third of SPU's team total. Despite his game-high performance, Saint Martin's posted 39-33 advantage on the boards.
 
"They did a great job on the glass. They beat us on the glass and that hasn't happened very often this year in which we get out-rebounded," said Leep, whose Falcons entered the game ranked No. 8 nationally with a plus-7.8 rebound margin.
 
SPU got out-rebounded for only the sixth time this season.
 
Standley topped the Saints with 17 points and Luke Chavez had 10.
 
All five of Boyce's baskets were 3-pointers and he missed only twice behind the arc.
 
Neither team shot well from the free throw line, but being slightly better made the difference for the winners. SMU shot 15-for-22 from the line while the Falcons converted just 17 of 32 attempts.
 
"We got to the free throw line 32 times today. I'll take that number any day of the week," Leep said. "Obviously I wish that we converted them at a little bit higher percentage tonight, that would have really helped us out."
 
Saturday's clash was a tiebreaker of sorts between the Great Northwest Athletic Conference rivals. They split two previous meetings 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.
 
They also shared the conference trophies as SMU was the regular-season champion while the Falcons captured the GNAC Tournament crown.
 
SPU stared this third matchup with a quick basket, just three seconds into the contest, as Nathan Streufert's long tip on the opening jump ball carried toward the hoop. Coleman Wooten raced to the tipped ball and scored an easy layup.
 
The Saints rapidly countered, on a dunk by Jordan Kitchen, to start a 10-4 run during which they sank 4 of 5 shots.
 
SMU's lead grew to 13-8 on the strength of 6-for-9 shooting while the Falcons hit just 3 of their first 11 shots.
 
A five-minute scoring drought hampered the Falcons midway through the period during which they went pointless for five straight possessions with four missed shots and a turnover. Fortunately they allowed only two points during that span as SMU also went cold.
 
The Saints missed five consecutive shots before Baerlocher's layup with 9:27 on the clock. They followed with four errant shots and two turnovers on the next six possessions, enabling SPU to reel off eight straight points.
 
When Moffitt drove down the middle of the lane for an open layup with 5:13 left in the half, the Falcons led 19-15.
 
The final three points of the period were tallied by SMU, setting the halftime score at 29-25 in favor of the Falcons.
 
First-half foul trouble plagued both teams during the defensive battle. Four Saints picked up two fouls, limiting their minutes.
 
SPU starting guards Cavell and Nikhil Lizotte where both whistled for two fouls by intermission and Moffitt had three.
 
None of them ended up fouling out.
 
The Saints four-point halftime deficit grew to 32-25 on a 3-pointer by Cavell 15 seconds into the second period. They responded by compiling three points on each of their next three possessions, a 9-0 surge that netted a 34-32 edge.
 
The teams were never separated by more than four points over the final 19 minutes.
 
"It just didn't work out for us" Leep said. "Only one team gets to end their season with a win, unfortunately it is not us this year and we have to send six seniors off who've had great careers at SPU."
 
So Long Seniors
Those six student-athletes played their final game in a Falcons uniform., including starters Lizotte, Wooten and Nathan Streufert. The other seniors are Simpson, Trey Miller and Conner Van Dyken.
 
Wooten is the ninth player in school history to reach both the 1,000-point and 600-rebound milestones. He completes his career ranked 16th among all-time SPU scorers with 1,213 career points and No. 9 in rebounding with 691.
 
The SPU men were making their 28th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, but their first since 2016 . They advanced to the national semifinals in 2000 and 2006.
 

NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
West Regional Semifinal
Golden Gymnasium/San Diego, Calif.
Saturday, March 16, 2019
 
(#18) Saint Martin's 67, (#23) Seattle Pacific 63
 
SAINT MARTIN'S (26-5)
Kitchen 3-7 2-3 8, Chavez 4-11 2-3 10, Redix 0-4 0-0 0, Baerlocher 2-2 1-2 5, Boyce 5-11 2-2 17, Standley 5-10 7-10 18, Henderson 4-7 0-0 8, Mathews 0-1 1-2 1, Lane 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 15-22 67.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (22-7)
Wooten 2-10 3-8 7, Streufert 1-3 0-2 2, Cavell 3-5 5-9 13, Lizotte 1-7 0-0 3, Long 7-11 2-5 16, Moffitt 4-5 2-2 11, Simpson 1-5 5-6 8, Khan 1-2 0-0 3, Boone 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 17-32 63.
 
Saint Martin's................   25   42  -   67
Seattle Pacific...............   29   34  -   63
 
3-point goals--SMU 6-14 (Boyce 5-7, Standley 1-2, Redix 0-2, Chavez 0-3), SPU 6-17 (Cavell 2-2, Simpson 1-3, Lizotte 1-6, Khan 1-1, Moffitt 1-1, Wooten 0-4). Fouled out--SMU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--SMU 39 (Kitchen, Chavez 7), SPU 33 (Simpson 11). Assists--SMU 13 (Chavez 4), SPU 9 (Simpson 3). Total fouls--SMU 23, SPU 20. Technical fouls--SMU-None, SPU-Simpson. A-323.