• STATS (pdf)

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Reserve guard Gabe Colosimo collected 15 of his season-high 17 points from behind the 3-point arc Thursday, helping first-place Seattle Pacific stretch its men's basketball winning streak to nine games with an 80-55 win over Concordia-Portland at LCEF Court.
 
Colosimo entered the game averaging 3.5 points and his top scoring output was six. The 6-foot point guard from Sandy, Utah made 5 of 9 treys and added a pair of free throws for his highest point production in two years. His career-best was a 21-point performance at Western Washington on Jan. 27, 2018.
 
In his fifth year with the program, Colosimo has twice battled back from serious injuries. He was sidelined the entire 2017 season before aggressively rehabilitating for a starting role in 21 games during the 2018 campaign.
 
After playing two games last season, Colosimo again suffered a season-ending injury that forced another long rehab process for 2019.
 
"It's a really cool story with the hard work and perseverance that Gabe has shown throughout his career at SPU," described SPU coach Grant Leep. "He's a fifth-year senior so he's seen it all and he has such a good, calming influence on our team.
 
"He can really shoot. Gabe found some really good, in-rhythm looks tonight and if he does that, he's going to knock those things in."

Top of the Table
The Falcons (9-4) remained unbeaten in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, staying alone atop the standings with a 5-0 record. They have reeled off nine straight wins since losing their first four games of the season.
 
 

Shaw Anderson was the only other SPU player in double figures, with 11 points. The freshman forward was honored as the GNAC Player of the Week on Monday.
 
Senior guard Gavin Long netted nine points, on 4-for-5 shooting, before leaving just six minutes into the contest. He fell awkwardly after finishing a fastbreak dunk after a steal and pass from Divant'e Moffitt.
 
Xavier Smith matched Colosimo for game-high honors, scoring 17 points for the Cavaliers (1-12), who dropped to 0-5 in league play. CU's Hunter Sweet tallied 10 points and Dakota Ayala grabbed 13 rebounds to pace all players on the boards.
 
Hot Shots
Seattle Pacific shot 49 percent from the field (27 of 55), but did its most serious damage from beyond the arc. The visitors shot 11-for-28 on 3-pointers, gaining 27 more points in that category than the Cavaliers, who were 2-of-15 on treys.
 
"We have good shooters, that always helps," Leep said of his team's stellar success from long distance.
 
"Just taking the right ones is key. Sometimes you pass up a good shot to get a great shot later on. Our guys did a good job of waiting on some of those threes until the ball had moved a little bit and the possession had more rhythm and flow."
 
Concordia shot 40 percent overall (23 of 57).
 
"Our defensive effort was phenomenal," exclaimed Leep. "Guys executed our defensive effort to a "T". To hold a team to 55 points was pretty impressive."
 
That matched a season-low total for an opponent as Sonoma State was held to the same total in a 75-55 SPU road victory on Nov. 26.

First-Half Recap
The Falcons opened an early 12-4 lead Thursday despite struggling to shoot from the floor. Their hosts drew within 14-11 on a jumper by Smith with 11 minutes left in the first half.
 
Concordia kept contact on the strength of a zone defense that initially stifled the Falcons, who made just 2 of 10 shots from 3-point range during the opening nine minutes.
 
SPU started to solve the zone and treys began to drop, six of them in nine tries the rest of the half.
 
"I was really pleased with our group. Concordia had shown that they play some zone, but they came out and exclusively played zone in the first half," Leep said. "For our guys to settle in and adjust to it was great. Then, when they switched back to man in the second half, again we kind of settled in and adjusted to it."
 
The final eight points of the period were posted by the Falcons, who went into intermission leading 37-19.
 
Moffitt scored on a driving layup with 1:47 remaining and then Colosimo drained a pair of 3-pointers during the final 1:09, including a trey with 4.6 seconds showing on the clock.
 
Second-Half Summary
Just 22 seconds into the second half, Colosimo hit a third consecutive trey to extend a run of 15 points the Falcons sandwiched around halftime. That provided a 44-19 advantage.
 
The Cavaliers responded, registering the next 10 points to close within 44-29. But that is as close as they could come and the SPU margin grew to as many as 28 points late in the game.
 
After committing just three fouls during the entire first half and none in nearly six second-half minutes, the Cavaliers amped up their physical play. They were whistled for seven fouls over the next five minutes, putting SPU in the bonus for the final 9:40 of the game.
 
That began a steady parade to the line for the Falcons, who converted 12 of 16 free throws over that final stretch.
 
"It became kind of a scrappy game and our guys kept their composure and we stayed true to who we are as a team and maintained our identity throughout all the things they were doing defensively," said Leep.
 
 

Moffitt, SPU's sophomore starter at point guard, distributed five assists for the third consecutive game. He is averaging 4.9 assists over the last seven outings.

Next Game
The SPU men remain on the road for their next two games. They visit 24th-ranked Western Oregon on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. in a rematch of the 2019 GNAC Tournament championship game, won by the Falcons.
 
The Falcons were victorious in the last two matchups to stop a 10-game losing skid versus the Wolves. They lost in their last six visits to WOU, last winning on Feb. 23, 2013.
 
"Western Oregon is playing really well and is an extremely good team," Leep said. "They've been a really good program over the last few years and we don't have a guy on our roster that has won a game in Monmouth.
 
"We need to be ready to hook it up and go. They're going to be ready for us, so we'll expect a really physical matchup."
 
On Tuesday, SPU travels to Lacey, Wash. to take on defending GNAC regular-season champion Saint Martin's.
 
The Falcons' next home game is Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. versus Montana State Billings.
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020
LCEF Court / Portland, Ore.
 
Seattle Pacific 80, at Concordia-Portland 55
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (9-4, 5-0 GNAC)
Anderson 4-8 0-0 11, Fullerton 3-5 0-2 7, Cavell 2-8 5-6 9, Moffitt 2-6 4-5 8, Long 4-5 0-0 9, Colosimo 5-10 2-2 17, Olsen 3-6 2-2 8, Medjo 2-3 2-3 6, Khan 1-3 0-0 3, El Mardi 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-55 15-20 80.
 
CONCORDIA-PORTLAND (1-12, 0-5 GNAC)
Sweet 4-9 2-2 10, Ayala 2-7 1-4 5, Tillery 2-9 0-0 4, Smith 7-15 2-4 17, Butler 1-3 0-0 3, Ritschard 4-7 0-0 8, Morrow 2-2 1-1 5, Larsen 1-1 1-1 3, Agost 0-0 0-0 0, Bradley 0-2 0-0 0, Cheney 0-0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0-2 0-0 0, Wheeler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 7-12 55.
 
Seattle Pacific...............   37   43  -   80
Concordia.....................   19   36  -   55
 
3-point goals--SPU 11-28 (Colosimo 5-9, Anderson 3-4, Khan 1-3, Long 1-2, Fullerton 1-1, Medjo 0-1, Olsen 0-3, Moffitt 0-2, Cavell 0-3), CU 2-15 (Smith 1-4, Butler 1-3, Ayala 0-1, Tillery 0-4, Sullivan 0-1, Sweet 0-2). Fouled out--SPU-None, CU-Larsen. Rebounds--SPU 36 (Fullerton, Cavell 6), CU 30 (Ayala 13). Assists--SPU 15 (Moffitt 5), CU 6 (Tillery 3). Total fouls--SPU 19, CU 17. Technical fouls--SPU-None, CU-None. A-285.
 

Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at (#24) Western Oregon
Saturday, Jan. 11, 4:15 p.m. PST
New PE Building / Monmouth, Ore.