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SEATTLE -- Divant'e Moffitt poured in a career-high 30 points Saturday for Seattle Pacific, which stretched its men's basketball winning streak to 12 games with a hard-fought 83-72 home victory over Montana State Billings.
 
Moffitt nailed 13 off 22 shots from the field, most of them runners in traffic after dribbling forays into the lane. The previous high output for the sophomore point guard was 29 points at Point Loma on Nov. 30.
 
"Divant'e did such a great job getting into the paint," said SPU coach Grant Leep. "He reads the defense so well. If they're not going to help, he's an excellent finisher as he showed tonight."
 
Streaking
The result extended a pair of lengthy stretches of success for the first-place Falcons, who have won their last 18 regular-season meetings versus Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents. The last team to defeat them in league play was Saturday's victim, MSUB, which was victorious on Jan. 26, 2019 in Billings.
 
SPU's current overall winning streak is the third-longest in program history and it follows four season-opening losses. The second-longest was a 13-game streak last season that can be equaled on Thursday at 7 p.m. when second-place Western Washington invades Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion.
 
The longest winning streak in school history was a 15-game spree during the 2002 season.
 
The Falcons (12-4) improved to 8-0 in league play, their best start since the GNAC was formed in 2001-02. Twice before, in 2002 and 2010, they won their first seven conference contests before falling in game No. 8.
 
Harry Cavell shot 9-for-15 from the floor en route to 19 points for SPU, which also got 16 from Shaw Anderson.

MEHDI EL MARDI INTERVIEW
Mehdi is the Man
Reserve center Mehdi El Mardi grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to lead a slim, 37-36, edge on the boards. That was four more rebounds than any Falcon has collected in a game this season and more than doubled his personal previous best of six.
 
"Mehdi coming off the bench and giving us 14 rebounds was huge, especially in a game that we really needed him. We just got out-rebounded on Tuesday by nine," said Leep, whose team won 87-63 at Saint Martin's in the last outing despite a 37-28 rebounding disparity.
 
The Falcons coach also singled out reserve point guard Braden Olsen for praise.
 
"The energy that Braden played with in his stretch in the first half was great. Five assists in the first half is pretty good. He ran the offense, got some ball movement and created a lot for us."
 
The Yellowjackets (8-8) fell to 3-5 in GNAC games. They featured a trio of lofty scorers led by 21 points from Zharon Richmond, 20 from Brendan Howard and 19 from Tyler Green. Jordan Lehrer chipped in 10 points.
 
Second-Half Synopsis
A 9-2 surge to start the second half provided the Falcons largest lead of the game, at 51-39, with 17:36 left to play. Cavell contributed four points during that span.
 
But the Yellowjackets could not be swatted away. They battled back behind 15 second-half points from Richmond. Midway through the period he made a jumper and then converted two free throws on the next possession to draw Billings within 68-65.
 
 

Moffitt repelled that rally with a jumper in the key and Cavell made a driving layup to push the margin back to 72-65 with 6:43 remaining.
 
MSUB never got closer than five points the rest of the way and the Falcons netted the game's final six points to secure the decision.
 
SPU shot 49 percent (33 of 68) from the field and 5 of 21 from 3-point range. Billings countered with 7-of-22 accuracy on treys and 40-percent shooting overall (25 of 62).
 
First-Half Summary
Despite hitting 8 of its first 11 shots from the field to start the game, SPU managed only a 16-15 lead.
 
The visitors used 3-point shooting and an early advantage from the free throw line to keep it close and then surged to a 19-16 lead with 13:21 left in the half. Back-to-back driving dunks, by Richmond and Lehrer, provided the three-point edge.
 
"The initial reaction is to be frustrated because with the group and the way we've been playing there is a standard that we expect to play to on both ends of the floor. We were hitting that standard on offense, but our defensive intensity to start wasn't where we needed it," Leep described about the inability to gain separation from Billings in the early going.
 
"Montana State Billings is really good. They have guys who can really hurt you. But I love how our guys battled. It's a credit to our group for how together we are, how together we play. We showed some grittiness and some toughness to get this one."
 
The Falcons finally put together a run, inside the seven-minute mark. Anderson drained a quick-release 3-pointer and added another one-minute later to cap an eight-point run that produced a 33-28 advantage.
 
After a trey by MSUB's Howard, who had 14 points at that point, the Falcons reeled off six straight points, four of them from Cavell.
 
At halftime, SPU led 42-38, having shot 50-percent (18 of 36), but just 3 of 12 on 3-pointers.
 
Next Game
The SPU men remain at home for their next two games, beginning on Thursday at 7 p.m. with the massive matchup versus second-place Western Washington. Simon Fraser visits on Jan. 25 at 4 p.m.
 
How difficult will it be to extend the winning streak to 13 games, versus the Vikings?
 
"It was a test to get it to 12," Leep exclaimed. "SPU and Western is such an intense rivalry, always such an intense game. They are very talented, they are very big. They shoot it well, they rebound it well and they're defending at a really high level right now.
 
"We will be ready to play, but our guys have to be prepared to compete and battle and play a really physical matchup on Thursday."
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 83, Montana State Billings 72
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (8-8, 3-5 GNAC)
Richmond 8-17 4-4 21, James 0-3 0-0 0, Howard 6-13 6-7 20, Dixon 0-7 0-0 0, Green 6-15 3-3 19, Lehrer 4-4 2-2 10, Daniels 1-2 0-0 2, Maduakor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 15-16 72.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (12-4, 8-0 GNAC)
Anderson 5-8 4-4 16, Fullerton 2-4 0-0 5, Cavell 9-15 0-0 19, Moffitt 13-22 3-4 30, Colosimo 1-3 1-1 3, El Mardi 2-6 0-0 4, Olsen 0-5 4-4 4, Medjo 1-2 0-0 2, Khan 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 33-68 12-13 83.
 
Montana State Billings......   37   35  -   72
Seattle Pacific.............   42   41  -   83
 
3-point goals--MSUB 7-22 (Green 4-11, Howard 2-3, Richmond 1-5, James 0-2, Maduakor 0-1), SPU 5-21 (Anderson 2-4, Fullerton 1-1, Moffitt 1-4, Cavell 1-4, Medjo 0-1, Khan 0-3, Colosimo 0-2, Olsen 0-1, El Mardi 0-1). Fouled out--MSUB-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--MSUB 36 (Richmond 8), SPU 37 (El Mardi 14). Assists--MSUB 11 (Dixon, Green, Maduakor, Lehrer 2), SPU (Olsen 5). Total fouls--MSUB 11, SPU 14. Technical fouls--MSUB-None, SPU-None. A-430.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Western Washington at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Jan. 23, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.