• RECAP: SPU 77, Chaminade 75    |    • FIRST ROUND PRESS CONFERENCE
 
2019 NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
West Regional • Golden Gymnasium • San Diego, Calif. (hosted by Point Loma)
•Webcasts & LiveStats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/plnu/
 
Saturday, March 16 (Regional Semifinals)
Game 5 – (#3) Saint Martin's vs. (#2) Seattle Pacific, 5:00 pm
Game 6 – (#4) UC San Diego vs. (#1) Point Loma, 7:30 pm
 
Monday, March 18 (Regional Championship)
Game 7 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7:30 pm
 
Seattle Pacific's men's basketball winning streak survived its toughest test, but still stretched to 13 games after Friday's 77-75 come-from-behind victory over Chaminade in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The 23rd-ranked Falcons (22-6) stayed alive and advanced to the West Region semifinals for a matchup with a familiar opponent on Saturday, March 16, at 5 p.m. in San Diego, Calif. Second-seeded SPU clashes with Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Saint Martin's, the region's No. 3 seed and nation's 18th-ranked team. The Saints (25-5) were 63-60 first-round victors over Concordia-Irvine. SMU claimed the conference regular-season crown while runner-up Seattle Pacific captured the GNAC Tournament title. They split this season's two previous meetings, each winning at home. The neutral site encounter will decide the season series as well as determine one entrant for the West Region championship game on Monday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's other semifinal pits host and top-seed Point Loma (27-4) versus crosstown rival UC San Diego (26-7) at 7:30 p.m. in Golden Gymnasium.
 
Tourney Tidbits
This is the 28th NCAA Tournament appearance for Seattle Pacific, which advanced to the national semifinals in 2000 and 2006 and placed third both times ... The Falcons forged a run of 12 straight playoff berths, from 2005-2016, that was the nation's longest active streak at the time ... SPU improved to 18-10 in NCAA opening-round playoff contests, including Friday's 77-75 comeback win over Chaminade. The Falcons won seven of their last 10 opening-round contests.

 

First-Round Recap
Gavin Long compiled 17 of his 21 points during the second half Friday, including a game-winning driving layup with 1.8 seconds left that sent No. 2 seed Seattle Pacific into the NCAA West Region semifinal with a 77-75 comeback victory over No. 7 seed Chaminade. The SPU men rallied from 13 points behind over the final 8:10, the largest deficit they have overcome to win a game this season. Grant Dressler's trey with 8:31 remaining put Chaminade up 62-49. The Falcons closed the game with a 28-13 run, capped by Long's game-winner. Nikhil Lizotte tallied 19 points for SPU, which got a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double from Coleman Wooten, his eighth of the season.
 
Friday, March 15 -- First Round Results
Game 1 – (#3) Saint Martin's 63, (#6) Concordia-Irvine 60
Game 2 – (#2) Seattle Pacific 77, (#7) Chaminade 75
Game 3 – (#4) UC San Diego 61, (#5) Cal Poly Pomona 50
Game 4 – (#1) Point Loma 70, (#8) Western Oregon 58
 
Notable
The Falcons current 13-game win streak is their longest since a school-record stretch of 15 straight victories in 2002 ... SPU was listed 23rd in Tuesday's coaches poll, its first national ranking since being No. 25 on Feb. 16, 2016 ... SPU's has a 12-1 record when scoring at least 80 points and is 12-0 when holding foes under 70 points.
 
NCAA Format
The NCAA Division II Tournament features a 64-team field broken into eight regionals comprised of eight teams from that geographic area. Each of the regional champions earn a trip to the Elite Eight at The Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The national quarterfinals are set for Mar. 27 with the semifinals on Mar. 28. The NCAA championship game will be televised live on CBS on Mar. 30 at noon Pacific Time. Ferris State captured the 2018 Division II crown with a 71-69 win over Northern State.
 
Scouting Saint Martin's (25-5, No. 3 seed)
> The 18th-ranked Saints finished one game ahead of SPU in the standings to win the regular-season championship, but lost 70-53 to Western Oregon in the GNAC Tournament semifinals.
> Four SMU players average double-figure points: EJ Boyce (13.0 ppg), Luke Chavez (13.0), Chandler Redix (11.6) and BJ Standley (11.3).
> SPU owns a 98-40 series lead despite losing six straight matchups before beating then No. 12 Saint Martin's 67-63 on Feb. 19 in Seattle.
 
On the Rebound
The Falcons lead the GNAC and rank No. 8 nationally in rebound margin, averaging 7.8 more in games versus their foes. SPU has a 19-4 record when outrebounding opponents and collected more caroms in all but five contests.
 
Balanced Attack
Four starters average double-figure points for the Falcons, who share the ball to such an impressive degree that nearly half (49.3%) of their baskets (386 of 783) were set up by teammates. Eight SPU players have been credited with at least 30 assists. Six different Falcons served as the scoring leader for games this season and eight players topped the team in assists.
 
NCAA Format
The NCAA Division II Tournament features a 64-team field broken into eight regionals comprised of eight teams from that geographic area. Each of the regional champions earn a trip to the Elite Eight at The Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The national quarterfinals are set for Mar. 27 with the semifinals on Mar. 28. The NCAA championship game will be televised live on CBS on Mar. 30 at noon Pacific Time. Ferris State captured the 2018 Division II crown with a 71-69 win over Northern State.