ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Point guard Divant'e Moffitt compiled 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds Saturday afternoon, directing 21st-ranked Seattle Pacific to a 77-71 season-opening victory over No. 20 Alabama Huntsville in the SCB National Hall of Fame Classic at Civic Arena.
 
The Falcons (1-0) led 40-33 at halftime, but a 13-2 run by UAH, capped by a Luke Burnett 3-pointer at 13:52, evened the score at 52-52.
 
Kelton Samore answered with a trey and Harry Cavell made a layup off a fine feed from Sharif Khan at 9:22, to put SPU in front for good.
 
The Chargers (0-1) drew within 65-63 on two free throws by CJ Williamson, but Samore netted the next three points on free throws to create a cushion. SPU sank 5 of 6 free throws during the final 2:15 to secure the results.
 
"This event forces you, because of the caliber of teams, to be better and to work to another layer to your stuff," said SPU coach Grant Leep. "That's what Alabama Huntsville did to us today. It was really good for our guys to be challenged in that way and to step up and come together to that challenge."
 
Moffitt shot 8-for-12 from the field and made both of his free throw tries. The 6-foot-2 senior, recently named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Week, came within one of his career-high assist total of nine.
 
"For a team that keyed so much on keeping him out of the paint, Divant'e still found a way to do it. He did a nice job of managing the game and managing touches for guys," Leep said. "He was just in such control of our offense and what we were looking for. He knows where the ball needs to go, he knows who needs to have the ball.
 
"But then he's also just deadly, if you relax for a second he's going to get into the paint. He's a terrific finisher and made some really nice plays today."
 
Samore finished with 16 points for the Falcons who also got 12 apiece from Shaw Anderson and Sharif Khan. Cavell scored 10 points and topped the team with seven rebounds.
 
KELTON SAMORE LAYUP, DIVANT'E MOFFITT ASSIST

SPU shot 46 percent from the field (27 of 59), including 13-for-38 accuracy on 3-pointers. Five different Falcons made a trey with Anderson and Sharif Khan each hitting four, Samore and Cavell two apiece and one from Moffitt.
 
The Chargers countered with 42-percent shooting (25 of 59) and made 8 of 25 treys.
 
Burnett paced Huntsville with 21 points, fueled by five 3-pointers. Williamson added 19 points and Chaney Johnson had 14.
 
FIRST HALF SUMMARY
Neither team shot well to start the game. SPU missed its first five shots, four of them from behind the 3-point arc. The Chargers made just one of their opening five attempts, a 3-pointer by Burnett 1:25 into the contest.
 
The teams were never separated by more than nine points during a hard-fought first half. Huntsville owned four early three-point leads, the last at 17-14 with 11:12 showing on the clock.
 
Moffitt sparked a spree over the next two minutes that put the Falcons in front for the rest of the half. They reeled off eight straight points, six of them from Moffitt. When he made a driving layup at 9:16, his team owned a 22-17 advantage they sustain into intermission.
 
SPU extended the margin to many as nine points before the Chargers closed within 37-33 on back-to-back baskets, by Burnett and Johnson.
 
Khan set the 40-33 halftime score with a right-corner 3-pointer with 18.3 second left in the period.
 
NEXT GAME
The Falcons remain in Missouri to face a formidable challenge on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time. They clash with top-ranked and defending NCAA Division II champion Northwest Missouri State. The Bearcats won three of the last four national titles and boast a 97-3 record during the last three seasons.
 
"We're really looking forward to the matchup Sunday. It's a great opportunity," Leep said. "Part of us being here in this event is that if SPU is going to be a team that makes noise on the national stage, these are the type of teams that we have to play against.
 
"This game today against Alabama Huntsville is no more or less important than the one tomorrow. It's all about playing to our standard and maximizing what this team that we have is going to become. The way that they stepped up to challenges was just great today."
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
SCB National Hall of Fame Classic
Saturday, November 6, 2021
Civic Arena / St. Joseph, Mo.
 
(#21) Seattle Pacific 77, (#20) Alabama Huntsville 71
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (1-0)
Anderson 4-9 0-0 12, Samore 5-9 4-6 16, Paulsen 1-4 2-2 4, Cavell 3-9 2-4 10, Moffitt 8-12 2-2 19, Khan 4-11 0-0 12, El Mardi 0-0 0-0 0, Whitman 1-1 0-0 2, Blackmon 1-3 0-0 2, Sidhu 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-59 10-14 77.
 
ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE (0-1)
Kostel 0-0 0-0 0, Burnett 7-14 2-3 21, Johnson 6-10 1-3 14, Shulman 0-3 0-0 0, Williamson 6-18 7-10 19, Leslie 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 3-5 1-2 8, Dodd 1-4 0-0 2, Harding 1-2 0-0 3, Saylor 1-1 2-4 4. Totals 25-59 13-22 71.
 
                         1    2   -  Final
Seattle Pacific......   40   37   -   77
Alabama Huntsville...   33   38   -   71
 
3-point goals--SPU 13-38 (Anderson 4-8, Khan 4-11, Samore 2-4, Cavell 2-6, Moffitt 1-4, Sidhu 0-1, Paulsen 0-2, Blackmon 0-2, UAH 8-25 (Burnett 5-12, Johnson 1-2, Smith 1-2, Harding 1-2, Kostel 0-1, Dodd 0-1, Williamson 0-2, Shulman 0-3). Fouled out--SPU-None, UAH-Johnson, Shulman. Rebounds--SPU 31 (Cavell 7), UAH 43 (Williamson 10). Assists--SPU 17 (Moffitt 8), UAH 11 (Kostel 3). Total fouls--SPU 18, UAH 22. Technical fouls--SPU-None, UAH-None.