• VIDEO: POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
• VIDEO: NIKHIL  LIZOTTE INTERVIEW
• FINAL STATS
• PHOTO GALLERY

 BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Falcons seem unbeatable after winning their last 12 games. They ARE unbeatable in GNAC Tournament championship games.
 
Coleman Wooten compiled a season-high 25 points Saturday, leading the Seattle Pacific men to their fourth GNAC playoff title with a 78-66 basketball victory over Western Oregon at Carver Gymnasium.
 
The second-seeded Falcons (21-6) remained perfect in the league championship game, emerging victorious in all four appearances.
 
Seattle Pacific won its initial Great Northwest Athletic Conference tourney title in 2013, defeating regular-season winner Western Washington, 72-70, on a last-second 3-pointer by Jobi Wall. The Falcons won the next two as well, both times against WWU.
 
SPU was a 65-62 victor in 2014 and won 81-68 in 2015.
 
The Falcons four championships are more than any other school with Western Oregon next in line, having won in 2016 and 2018.



Seattle Pacific receives the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament that begins on Friday. The playoff field will be announced Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time on NCAA.com.
 
What advice will Coach Grant Leep give his Falcons entering the NCAA Tournament?
 
"Be us. Do the things that we've done to this point. You look at that first half tonight, the advantages that Western Oregon had were because of our turnovers and their offensive rebounds. Those are things that we can control.
 
"When we do what we're supposed to do, and how we're supposed to do it, we're a tough team to beat. It's really been exemplified over this 12-game win streak. "
 
Wooten received the GNAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player award. He tallied 16 points during the first period, helping the Falcons claim a 41-38 halftime edge.
 
A 14-5 run early in the second half, sparked by five straight points from Wooten, provided the game's largest lead. When Gavin Long drained a 3-pointer with 12:54 left to play, SPU led 58-48.
 
The Wolves later scored seven consecutive points to draw within 60-58 with 9:45 remaining. But they would get no closer and SPU finished the game with a 14-8 surge to secure the result.
 
"This group, more than any group I've been a part of, has come together and they play as one. They care about each other and they make plays for each other," said Leep. "This group that we have right now at SPU doesn't get rattled. They stay together, they're tough, they make big shots.
 
"It's been unreal with guys just stepping up and making the right plays. It's so much fun to coach smart guys that care about one another, and that's exactly what we have at SPU."
 
Wooten converted 8 of 12 shots from the field, 3 of 4 treys and all six of his free throws. He also collected 11 rebounds for his team-leading seventh double-double.
 
"He really set the tone for our group tonight and he's been lights out the last few weeks over our win streak," Leep exclaimed.

 

Long finished with 17 points. He drove to the hoop with six minutes left in the first half, banking a shot high off the glass and in for his 1,000th career point. Long is the 37th player in SPU history to reach that milestone, a group that includes Wooten, who joined the 1,000-point club on Jan. 26.
 
Nikhil Lizotte added 14 points for the Falcons, whose 12 consecutive victories mark their best stretch of success since the 2002 squad constructed a school-record 15-game winning streak.


 
The No. 4 seed Wolves (22-10) participated in the GNAC championship game for the fourth straight season. They were led by the 14 points of Darius Lubom. O'landa Baker contributed 13 points, Etan Collins had 12 and Buster Souza 10.
 
SPU scored the game's first six points, four of them from Lizotte. The Wolves finally got on the board 2:40 into the contest on two free throws from Kaleb Warner.
 
A 3-pointer by Wooten put the Falcons up 11-6. The Wolves rallied behind a pair of put-backs, from Jaylyn Richardson and Etan Collins to forge the game's first tie, 13-13.
 
Neither team gained more than five points of separation the rest of the first half.
 
With his team trailing 37-36, Wooten netted six straight points to provide a 41-36 advantage with 43 seconds showing on the clock.
 
Souza's tip-in with 27.3 seconds left set the halftime score at 41-38.
 
A jumper by Western's Riley Hawken 25 seconds after intermission closed that gap to 41-40, but the Falcons netted the next three points to ignite a 17-8 run that proved decisive.
 
Saturday was a rubber match of sorts for the championship combatants, who split their regular-season series. The Wolves won 73-71 on Jan. 19 in Monmouth and SPU got a 66-57 decision in the rematch, on Feb. 14 in Seattle.
 
Prior to winning the last two encounters, the Falcons had suffered 10 straight setbacks against Western Oregon.
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
GNAC Tournament -- Championship Game
Saturday, March 9, 2019
Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 78, Western Oregon 66
 
WESTERN OREGON (22-10)
Collins 5-9 0-0 12, Warner 2-6 2-2 6, Hawken 2-4 0-0 4, Evans 1-1 0-0 2, Brushier 0-6 0-0 0, Lubom 6-14 1-2 14, Baker 5-12 0-0 13, Souza 5-7 0-1 10, Cranston 1-2 0-0 3, Richardson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-63 3-5 66.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (21-6)
Wooten 8-12 6-6 25, Streufert 0-5 1-2 1, Cavell 3-9 2-2 9, Lizotte 4-10 4-6 14, Long 6-10 3-4 17, Moffitt 3-4 0-0 7, Simpson 2-5 0-0 5, Van Dyken 0-0 0-0 0, Boone 0-1 0-0 0, Khan 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 16-20 78.
 
Western Oregon............  38   28  -   66
Seattle Pacific...........  41   37  -   78
 
3-point goals--WOU 7-19 (Baker 3-5, Collins 2-4, Cranston 1-1, Lubom 1-5, Brushier 0-1, Hawken 0-1, Warner 0-2), SPU 10-24 (Wooten 3-4, Lizotte 2-5, Long 2-3, Cavell 1-4, Simpson 1-4, Moffitt 1-1, Khan 0-3). Fouled out--WOU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--WOU 38 (Collins 7), SPU 35 (Wooten 11). Assists--WOU 9 (Lubom, Richardson 3), SPU 10 (Wooten, Streufert, Long 2). Total fouls--WOU 16, SPU 10. Technical fouls--WOU-None, SPU-None. A-529.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Action
NCAA Tournament Selection Show
Sunday, March 10, 7:30 p.m. PDT
https://www.ncaa.com/sports/basketball-men/d2