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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27
Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m. PST
Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29 -- SENIOR DAY
Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, 4:15 p.m. PST (5:15 MST)
Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
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The Seattle Pacific men's basketball regular season concludes this week with a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference home games on Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion. The Falcons have already secured the 2020 conference regular-season championship with a four-game lead entering the final week. They seek to improve their NCAA playoff prospects by boosting a 20-win total. SPU (20-6, 16-2 GNAC) hosts second-place Northwest Nazarene (15-8, 12-6) on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. That is a rematch of last year's league semifinal game won 89-81 by SPU en route to its fourth GNAC Tournament title. The Falcons then play a rare Leap Day game on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. versus Central Washington, which was also the foe for the last Feb. 29th contest. The Wildcats lost in each of their last eight visits to Seattle Pacific.
 
So Long Seniors
Saturday marks the final regular-season home appearance for two SPU seniors: Gabe Colosimo and Gavin Long. In the five years since Colosimo arrived, the Falcons forged a 93-50 record while collecting a conference regular-season championship, one GNAC Tournament title and two NCAA playoff berths. Those two seniors will be honored in a brief ceremony prior to Saturday's 4:15 p.m. tip-off.
 
GABE  COLOSIMO INTERVIEW

Leap Day
For just the fourth time ever, the SPU men will play a game that falls on February 29th. The Falcons have a 1-2 record on Leap Day and the last one was also against Central Washington. (2012_lost_69-70_vs CWU.  1992_lost_69-71_at UAA.  1972_won_74-51_at SMU).
 
20-Game Winners
The Falcons' 88-67 win at Simon Fraser on Feb. 20 clinched the second straight 20-win season under fourth-year coach Grant Leep. They achieved 20 wins for the 26th time in the program's 76-year history.
 
GNAC Tournament
For the ninth year, the GNAC is hosting a postseason tournament with the winner receiving the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II playoffs. SPU captured its fourth GNAC Tournament title last year, adding a 2019 trophy to the display that includes hardware from three consecutive seasons from 2013-15. The top-six finishers in the regular-season standings will participate in the GNAC Tournament. SPU, Western Washington and Northwest Nazarene have already clinched spots with the other three still up for grabs. All of the conference's 2020 men's and women's playoff games will be contested at Brougham Pavilion. SPU and the No. 2 seed will receive first-round byes in the men's bracket while the lower seeds meet on March 5. The semifinals are set for March 6 and the championship game is March 7.
 
Notable
Braden Olsen ranks No. 29 nationally in free throw accuracy at 87.5 percent (63 of 72) ... The Falcons boast a 15-0 record in games when they score 80 or more points ... Eight different Falcons have led the team in scoring in a game ... SPU won all 19 games when it was ahead with five minutes remaining and has a 17-1 record when leading at halftime ... The Falcons have been without the services of last year's leading scorer (14.4 ppg), Gavin Long, who missed the last 13 games with a shoulder injury. Long was a second-team All-GNAC honoree in 2019.
 
Last Week
The Falcons drew a split on their final road trip. They got a combined 44 points from Harry Cavell (24) and Divant'e Moffitt (20) in an 88-67 victory at Simon Fraser (Feb. 20) that extended their winning streak to six. That ended two days later at Western Washington when the 20th-ranked Falcons fell 73-68 despite Moffitt and Shaw Anderson each pitching in 16 points. The Vikings went ahead for good with two minutes remaining.
 
Scouting Northwest Nazarene (15-8, 12-6 GNAC)
> The second-place Nighthawks won their last three games.
 
> Ezekiel Alley paces a quartet of double-digit scorers with a 16.3-point average that ranks sixth in the GNAC. Olamilekan Adetunji averages a league-leading 8.7 rebounds.
 
> The Falcons lead the all-time series 61-26 and won the last three encounters, including an 89-81 triumph on Mar. 8 in the semifinals of the 2019 GNAC Tournament. SPU was a 77-68 victor in this season's first matchup, on Dec. 7, 2019 in Nampa, Idaho.
 
Scouting Central Washington (16-10, 9-9 GNAC)
> The Wildcats defeated Concordia-Portland 69-66 in their last outing (Feb. 22) to level their GNAC record to a seventh-place mark of 9-9.
 
> A pair of double-figure scorers lead the CWU offense led by the 13.9 points per game of Jeryn Lucas and Tariq Woody with an average of 10.4.
 
> CWU leads the all-time series 74-59 despite losing 17 of the last 21 meetings. SPU was victorious in the last six encounters, including a 76-66 decision in the most recent meeting on Dec. 5, 2019 in Ellensburg.
 
Youth Movement
Just six of the 13 players on the roster had worn an SPU uniform before this season and only two of them were primary starters last season (Harry Cavell, Gavin Long). The 11-player rotation implemented includes six underclassmen. Four are freshmen, with true frosh Shaw Anderson and Zack Paulsen joined by red-shirts Jacob Medjo and Filip Fullerton. Sophomores Divant'e Moffitt and Braden Olsen share point-guard duties. The infusion of newcomers also features reserve center Mehdi El Mardi, a junior transfer from Trevecca Nazarene, and incoming freshmen Chris Penner and Clayton Whitman, who are red-shirting.
 
Sharp Shooters
 

The SPU men lead the GNAC and rank No. 14 nationally in team field goal accuracy at exactly 50.0 percent, reaching the 50-percent mark 14 times in 26 contests and winning all 14. They held all but three foes under 50-percent and won all 17 games when out-shooting opponents. SPU hit an astounding 70 percent of its attempts (42 of 60) in a Dec. 20 home win over Puget Sound, nearly eclipsing the school record of 71.2 percent (37 of 52) set against BYU-Hawaii on Jan. 29, 2000. Five Falcons are making more shots than they miss, led by the 56-percent accuracy (121 of 216) of Shaw Anderson, who is also SPU's best 3-point shooter at 58 percent (57 of 98). The Falcons rank fourth nationally in free throw accuracy at 80.3 percent and six players convert free throws at better than an 80-percent clip, topped by Braden Olsen, whose 87.5-percent accuracy (63 of 72) ranks 29th among NCAA Division II players.
 
Dynamic Divant'e
Point guard Divant'e Moffitt is in the midst of a stellar sophomore campaign. His 16.6-point average ranks fourth in the GNAC and his 3.4 assists per game is seventh. Moffitt erupted for a career-high 33 points at Alaska Fairbanks (Jan. 30), his second 30-point performance. He reached double-digits 21 times, seven of them 20-point performances. Moffitt has been the Falcons top scorer in 10 games and leading assister 16 times. He shoots 52 percent from the field and 81% from the free throw line.
 
Frosh Phenom
Freshman Shaw Anderson is a two-time GNAC Player of the Week (Jan. 6 & Jan. 13). He averages 13.2 points while shooting 56 percent from the field (121 of 216). The 6-foot-6 forward is even better outside the arc, hitting 58.2 percent of his 3-pointers (57 of 98). Anderson compiled a streak off 11 straight successful 3-pointers from Jan. 30 to Feb. 8. He poured in a career-high 34 points at Western Oregon (Jan. 11).
 
Court Report
SPU players have produced four 30-point games, the most since there were four in 2017. Shaw Anderson tallied 33 points on Jan. 4, the most by a Falcon since Feb. 14, 2017 when Tony Miller had 33. Anderson then compiled 34 points on Jan. 11. Divant'e Moffitt tallied 30 points on Jan. 18 and erupted for a career-high 33 on Jan. 30 ... Anderson was named the GNAC Player of the Week on consecutive Mondays (Jan. 6 & Jan. 13) and Moffitt garnered the weekly honor on Dec. 2 ... Senior Gavin Long and junior Harry Cavell were named to the 15-man Preseason All-GNAC team and the Falcons were projected second in the coaches preseason poll.
 
Coach Leep
Grant Leep, 40, is in his fourth season directing the SPU men's basketball program after seven years as an assistant on the Falcons staff. He has a 71-41 career record. Leep coached the 2019 team to a 22-7 record that featured a late 13-game winning streak. His Falcons won the GNAC Tournament and advanced to the West Regional semifinal of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Leep has strong basketball ties throughout the Northwest as an All-America player at Mount Vernon (Wash.) High School before lettering four years at Washington. Leep still owns the Huskies 3-point accuracy records for a season (52.7% in 2002) and career (42.9%). His coaching resumé includes stops at Eastern Washington and a pair of community colleges. SPU had a 165-51 (.764) record during his time as an assistant.
 
Postseason Pursuit
SPU seeks to return to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second straight season after a two-year absence in 2017 and 2018. Prior to that, the Falcons forged a run of 12 straight playoff berths, from 2005-2016, that was the longest active streak among Division II men's basketball teams. SPU advanced to the national semifinals in both 2000 and 2006, placing third both times.
 
Decade of Dominance
The winningest decade in the stellar history of SPU basketball came to a close on Dec. 20 with the program's 211th victory from 2010-19. The 211-88 record produced a 70.6 winning percentage that ranks second all-time, trailing only the 71.3 percent mark (206-83) compiled by the Falcons teams from 2000-09.
 
2019 Season Review
The Falcons returned to the NCAA Division II Tournament after a two-year absence. They reeled off 13 consecutive victories en route to a GNAC Tournament championship and appearance in the NCAA West Regional semifinal. SPU's final record of 22-7 included a 16-4 league ledger that was good for second place in the GNAC standings. Coleman Wooten earned first-team All-GNAC honors, Gavin Long was a second-teamer and Nikhil Lizotte garnered honorable mention acclaim.