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NAMPA, Idaho – Credit the late January post-game meeting in a Billings, Montana locker room for inspiring Seattle Pacific's improbable run to second place.
 
Nikhil Lizotte and Gavin Long combined for 44 points Saturday to account for over half of the scoring total for the SPU men, who defeated Northwest Nazarene, 87-82, to secure the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in next week's GNAC Basketball Tournament.
 
"It's huge," exclaimed third-year SPU coach Grant Leep about the free pass into the semifinals.
 
"Number one, we don't have to play in the first round so it's just less wear-and-tear, that's the biggest thing. We'll get to manage that this week and take care of our guys' bodies and make sure that they are feeling really good as we get that bye into the semis. Secondly, we'll get to watch and get a really good feel for what our opponent will want to do."
 
The Falcons (19-6) finished in sole possession of second place in the standings with a 16-4 league ledger. They will compete in the GNAC semifinals at 5:15 p.m. on Friday in Bellingham's Carver Gymnasium.
 
The top seed in the conference is regular-season winner Saint Martin's, which finished with a 17-3 record in GNAC games after Saturday's 105-96 double-overtime win at Central Washington.
 
A bye and GNAC runner-up finish seemed unlikely on January 26 after the Falcons sustained their worst setback, a 92-63 drubbing at the hands of Montana State Billings. That was their third straight loss.
 
"That last loss was the one at Billings. That was obviously our low point of the year," Leep described. "Our group talked about having 10 games left and everybody in that locker room believed that we could win all 10. It wasn't going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but we took it for what it was, a one-game absolute meltdown by us but we knew we could rally and go finish the season the right way.
 
"Our guys just latched onto that. They believe in each other and somebody different steps up every night. We've had some games where we really had to grind and grit some things out and it's just brought our group closer together."
 
The Falcons did indeed win those 10 games, and they needed every one of them, putting together the program's longest winning streak since the 2014 season.
 
SPU struggled at times from the free throw line Saturday, converting just 13 of their first 26 attempts. But the visitors made them when it mattered with 13-for-16 accuracy during the final 5:17, including 5 of 6 in the last 28 seconds.
 
The Nighthawks (19-7) trailed for most of the game, but closed the gap to one point, 69-68, on a jumper by Adonis Arms with 6:10 remaining.
 
The next possession proved pivotal for the Falcons, whose three offensive rebounds enabled them to score three points. Sam Simpson grabbed a teammate's miss and made the first of two charity shots. Long boarded the miss on Simpson's second attempt, was fouled and drained a pair of free throws.
 
That sparked a run of seven straight SPU points, a spree capped by two Lizotte free throws that forged a 76-68 margin with 4:25 showing on the clock.
 
When Arms scored on a driving layup with 18 seconds left to play, NNU trailed just 84-82. The Falcons sealed the victory with two more free throws from Lizotte, with 11 seconds left, and one from Simpson in the final second.

 

Lizotte nailed 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range and 7 of 8 free throws en route to a team-high 23 points. Long produced a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double, a feat also achieved by Simpson with 10 points and 11 boards.
 
That duo led a commanding 48-31 advantage on the boards for the Falcons, who parlayed 24 offensive boards into 20 second-chance points.
 
"We knew how good and talented NNU is, especially when they are allowed to get out and run in transition. One of the ways we wanted to combat that was to be all over the offensive glass," said Leep. "It's hard to get out and run in transition when you have to block out every time.
 
"We finished with as many offensive rebounds as we did defensive. Our guys' ability to go out and get that many rebounds and out-rebound them by that large margin was a big deciding factor."
 
Harry Cavell added 10 points for SPU.
 
The Falcons shot 43 percent (26 of 61) and NNU 52 percent (33 of 63). They made up for that shooting deficit by posting point advantages of 27-9 on treys and 26-13 from the free throw line.
 
Arms, the GNAC's leading scorer, compiled 30 points on 10-for-21 shooting from the field. He was perfect in nine free throw tries.
 
Obi Megwa contributed 22 points and Jayden Bezzant 15 for the Nighthawks, who finished with a 14-6 conference record.

 

The Falcons led for most of the first half after surging in front with a 16-6 run powered by six straight points from Long. By the time Sharif Khan nailed a 3-pointer with 11:05 left in the half, they owned the largest lead of the period at 22-14.
 
NNU came within two points on three occasions, but was unable to draw even or take a lead.
 
Back-to-back baskets by Bezzant, on a jumper followed by a steal and fastbreak layup, brought the Nighthawks within 45-41 at halftime.
 
Megwa tallied 13 first-half points and Arms had 11. They helped NNU shoot 53 percent (18-34) in the opening 20-minute session.
 
Despite shooting 10 percent lower at 42% (15 of 36), the Falcons led on the strength of a 10-3 scoring edge from the free throw line along with their dominance on the glass.
 
SPU amassed 15 second-chance points with 16 offensive rebounds, a figure that surpassed the Nighthawks entire board total of 14. The visitors collected 27 rebounds before halftime.
 
An 8-5 Nighthawks run to start the second half trimmed SPU's lead to 50-49. Cavell answered with a 3-pointer to ignite an 11-3 surge that built the lead to 61-52 with 16:12 left to play.
 
NNU kept contact and got six free throws from Arms in a 36-second span to trim the deficit to 65-62, setting up the dramatic finish.
 
The Falcons could face Northwest Nazarene again very soon. The Nighthawks meet Simon Fraser in a GNAC quarterfinal matchup on Thursday with the winner meeting SPU on Friday at 5:15 p.m.
 
GNAC Tournament quarterfinal games are scheduled for 5:15 and 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, the same time the semifinals will be conducted on Friday. The championship game is slated for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The tournament winner gets the GNAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II playoffs.
 
Tickets for the GNAC Tournament can be purchased in advance at gnachooptickets.com
 
GNAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Thursday, March 7 – Quarterfinals
No. 3 Northwest Nazarene vs. No. 6 Simon Fraser, 5:15 p.m.
No. 4 Western Oregon vs. No. 5 Montana State Billings, 7:30 p.m.
 
Friday, March 8 – Semifinals
Northwest Nazarene/Simon Fraser winner vs. No. 2 Seattle Pacific, 5:15 p.m.
Western Oregon/Montana State Billings winner vs. No. 1 Saint Martin's, 7:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 9
Championship Game, 7:30 p.m.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL BOXSCORE
Saturday, March 2, 2019
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
 
Seattle Pacific 87, at Northwest Nazarene 82
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (19-6, 16-4 GNAC)
Wooten 3-7 0-2 7, Streufert 1-3 0-2 2, Cavell 3-12 3-4 10, Lizotte 6-11 7-8 23, Long 6-12 8-12 21, Simpson 3-5 3-6 10, Moffitt 2-4 2-4 6, Khan 1-4 2-2 5, Boone 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 26-61 26-42 87.
 
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (19-7, 14-6 GNAC)
Adetunji 2-6 1-1 5, Arms 10-21 9-9 30, Megwa 9-13 3-4 22, Prvulj 1-4 0-0 2, Franks 0-0 0-0 0, Bezzant 7-10 0-0 15, Roth 3-4 0-2 6, Diaz 1-3 0-1 2, Furgerson 0-1 0-0 0, White 0-1 0-2 0, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-63 13-19 82.
 
Seattle Pacific...............  45   42  -   87
Northwest Nazarene............  41   41  -   82
 
3-point goals--SPU 9-23 (Lizotte 4-7, Long 1-2, Wooten 1-3, Cavell 1-6, Simpson 1-2, Khan 1-3), NNU 3-14 (Megwa 1-4, Bezzant 1-2, Arms 1-4, Prvulj 0-2, Adetunji 0-1, Roth 0-1). Fouled out--SPU-None, NNU-Adetunji. Rebounds--SPU 48 (Simpson 11), NNU 31 (Arms, Adetunji 5). Assists--SPU 14 (Wooten 5), NNU 11 (Roth, Bezzant, Arms, Diaz 2). Total fouls--SPU 18, NNU 28. Technical fouls--SPU-None, NNU-None. A-1212.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at GNAC Tournament semifinal
Friday, March 8, time TBA
Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.