• STATS (pdf)
   • VIDEO: Gabe  Colosimo interview
   • VIDEO: Harry  Cavell layup
   • VIDEO: Divant'e  Moffitt high bank shot
   • PHOTO GALLERY

SEATTLE -- Braden Olsen came off the bench to pace four double-figure scorers with a career-high 24 points Tuesday for Seattle Pacific, which stretched to 4 1/2 games its lead in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball standings with an 86-75 home win over Saint Martin's.
 
The Falcons (18-5) registered their fourth consecutive victory, improving to 14-1 in conference play. They were victorious in 18 of the last 19 contests.
 
Three teams are tied for second place and SPU can clinch at least a tie for the regular-season championship with one more victory.
 
Coach Grant Leep knows that his players are observing the standings and aware of what is on the line heading into Thursday's game at Montana State Billings.
 
"It's hard not to, that's human nature. We've got guys who are basketball fans, so they know the situation.
 
"But the biggest thing is making sure that we approach it one game at a time. The maturity that our guys have shown in their ability to be present in the moment and taking each game for what it is, whoever the opponent is, has been great. They've done a really nice job with that."

GABE  COLOSIMO INTERVIEW

 Sweep Revenge
The defending GNAC regular-season champion Saints (5-19) dropped to 3-12 in GNAC games with the loss on Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion.
 
Paired with an 87-63 victory in Lacey on Jan. 14, the Falcons swept the season series from Saint Martin's to gain a measure of revenge. The Saints ended SPU's 2019 season with a win in the West Regional semifinal of the NCAA Division II Tournament in San Diego, Calif.
 
Seattle Pacific raced out to an early 16-point lead Tuesday and was ahead 47-33 at halftime. The visitors narrowed that gap to seven points on four occasions in the second half, but could get no closer.
 
Stats Summary
The Falcons converted 20 of 24 free throws for the game. They scored their final 13 points from the line, including conversions on their last 12 attempts.
 
Olsen made all eight of his free throws and shot 6-for-12 from the floor. Included in that figure was 4-for-7 accuracy on 3-pointers. His previous high-scoring game was a 19-point performance exactly one month earlier, on Jan. 11 at Western Oregon.
 
"It helps so much when you can get some production like that off our bench and this is the second time that Braden has led us in scoring," Leep said. "That spark that it provides is noticeable within the group.
 
"I was happy with how our bench played tonight with 36 points. We've got good players off the bench that can come in and really impact a game."
 
Starters Shaw Anderson and Harry Cavell each chipped in 15 points for SPU and Divant'e Moffitt added 14, all of them coming during the first 11 minutes of the contest.
 
Cavell led all Falcons rebounders for the fifth time in the last six games. He hauled in nine to lead SPU's 31-25 edge on the boards. Cavell was also the team's top assist man with six.
 
Gabe Colosimo filled up the stat sheet with four points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.

HARRY  CAVELL MOVE & LAYUP

Alex Schumacher amassed 21 points to lead SMU, which also got 20 from CJ Jennings and 12 apiece from Alex Clinton and Marky Adams.
 
The Falcons shot 50 percent (26 of 52), but just 48 percent inside the 3-point arc (12 of 25). They nailed 52 percent of their treys (14 of 27) paced by Anderson's 3-for-4 effort and 2-for-3 nights from Moffitt, Sharif Khan and Jacob Medjo.
 
SPU reached the 50-percent shooting mark for the 12th time in 23 games and won all 12 of them.
 
The stellar shooting display was even more impressive considering the hectic schedule and unique defense the Saints utilize, according to Leep.
 
"We're in February, it's been a long season and it's a weird Tuesday game. I was glad with how our group just hung in there and did enough to get it done tonight. Saint Martin's plays really hard and they play a zone that gives you a different look. It's hard to replicate in practice.
 
"I was really pleased with our group's effort and how we played in stretches. We shot the ball extremely well tonight again. Our group is finding a good rhythm and we had 19 assists tonight. Any time that you make 14 threes you have to be pleased with that. Fifty percent from the field, 52 from three and 83 from the free throw line, that's pretty good."
 
Saint Martin's was held to 46 percent shooting (26 of 57) and shot 9-for-23 on 3-pointers.
 
First-Half Recap
A pair of shooting streaks powered the Falcons in the first half.
 
After missing its first four shots, enabling the Saints to net the game's first five points, SPU converted five consecutive attempts, and 6 of 7, en route to an early 14-5 lead.
 
Following a missed shot, the Falcons found the mark on their next six shots to increase their margin to 30-15 with 9:31 left in the first half.
 
The teams traded baskets for a seven-minute stretch before SPU closed the half with six straight points to claim a 47-33 advantage at intermission. Cavell notched four of those on free throws inside the final 1:15.
 
In the first half, the Falcons shot slightly better from 3-point arc, at 53.3 percent (8 of 15), than they did from inside the arc, 52.9% (9 of 17).
 
SMU shot well in the opening 20 minutes at 46 percent (12 of 26), but was just 3 of 8 on treys.
 
Moffitt scored his 14th point on a high bank-shot with 9:31 showing on the clock and didn't score again the rest of the game.

DIVANT'E  MOFFITT HIGH BANK SHOT

 Next Game
The SPU men complete their strenuous slate of four games in eight days with a visit to Montana State Billings on Thursday. Tip-off is 4:15 p.m. Pacific Time.
 
"Four games in eight days is such a tough stretch. Now going on the road, thank goodness it's a relatively short flight," Leep said. "We were able to control some minutes tonight for some guys.
 
"Our assistants do such a good job in our scouting and our guys need to apply the information that we learn from that scouting report into the game. It's really fun coaching smart kids because they can take on a lot of information."
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 86, Saint Martin's 75
 
Saint Martin's (5-19, 3-12 GNAC)
Rooney 0-7 3-4 3, Clinton 3-7 4-4 12, Adams 5-7 2-3 12, Jennings 7-19 3-3 20, Moore 3-4 0-0 7, Schumacher 8-13 2-2 21, Lenker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 14-16 75.
 
Seattle Pacific (18-5, 14-1 GNAC)
Anderson 6-10 0-0 15, Fullerton 1-3 0-2 2, Cavell 3-6 8-10 15, Moffitt 6-9 0-0 14, Colosimo 0-5 4-4 4, Olsen 6-12 8-8 24, Khan 2-3 0-0 6, Medjo 2-3 0-0 6, El Mardi 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-52 20-24 86.
 
Saint Martin's           33     42    -- 75
Seattle Pacific          47     39    -- 86
 
3-point goals--SMU 9-23 (Jennings 3-12, Schumacher 3-4, Clinton 2-4, Moore 1-1, Rooney 0-2), SPU 14-27 (Olsen 4-7, Anderson 3-4, Moffitt 2-3, Medjo 2-3, Khan 2-3, Cavell 1-3, Fullerton 0-1, Colosimo 0-3). Fouled out--SMU-Jennings, SPU-None. Rebounds--SMU 25 (Jennings 6), SPU 31 (Cavell 9). Assists--SMU 10 (Jennings 4), SPU 19 (Cavell 6). Turnovers--SMU 12, SPU 13. Total fouls--SMU 18, SPU 18. Technical fouls--None. Attendance-322.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings
Thursday, Feb. 13, 4:15 p.m. PST
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.