ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- Divant'e Moffitt scored 18 points and his perfect accuracy on 10 attempts Friday night sparked Seattle Pacific's stellar performance from the free throw line in an 86-82 men's basketball victory at Central Washington.
 
The Falcons (6-3) outscored CWU by 14 points at the line, converting 30 of 33 free throws. They were the national leader in team free throw shooting last season at 80.5 percent.
 
SPU entered Friday's game ranked No. 2 among NCAA Division II teams in free throw accuracy at 84.5 percent, a figure they improved to 85.6% for the season at 161 of 188.
 
"It's really comforting as a coach knowing that it's a source of points that we can get from multiple guys," SPU coach Grant Leep said of his team's free throw prowess. "Especially in situations when you are having a hard time scoring or the other team is going on a run, as long as you stay aggressive, you're still finding ways to not have empty possessions by getting to the free throw line like that.
 
"We did a nice job of getting them into the bonus early and then all of our guys can step up and make them. Getting 30 free throw points is huge."
 
In its first game of the season, Central (0-1) hit 16 of 21 free throws led by Matt Poquette's 4-for-4 performance. He was also perfect from the field, making all eight of his shots en route to a 20-point effort.
 
Moffitt (Spanaway Lake HS) tallied four of the Falcons' final six points. He scored on a drive to the hoop at 1:47 and drained two free throws with 17.9 seconds left to play, both times pushing his team's lead back out to four points.
 
After Central's David Thompson made a jumper to trim the deficit to 84-82 with 10.5 seconds remaining, Zack Paulsen (Curtis HS) sealed the SPU win on a pair of charity shots with 9.4 seconds showing on the clock.
 
HARRY CAVELL COAST-TO-COAST LAYUP

Harry Cavell chipped in 14 points for the Falcons to go along with team-leading totals of seven rebounds and five assists.
 
Cavell's final rebound helped him achieve a major milestone. It was the 500th career rebound for the 6-foot-6 senior guard. Only 15 other Falcons have accomplished that feat.
 
He scored his 1,000th point on January 27 and now ranks 20th on SPU's career scoring chart with 1,087 points. Cavell joined an illustrious group as the 11th member of Seattle Pacific's prestigious 1,000-point & 500-rebound club.
 
"SPU basketball has been around for 78 years and to be one of only 11 guys to do that is great. Harry Cavell will go down as one of the all-time great men's basketball players in Falcons history. He is the gold-standard of what it means to be a student-athlete at SPU."
 
Sharif Khan (Bellevue HS) scored 12 points, half of them courtesy of 2-for-2 accuracy on 3-pointers. Both of them were deep treys inside the final seven minutes, including a contested shot from the top-left that put SPU ahead for good, at 78-76, with 4:07 remaining.
 
"The shot clock was really low and we didn't execute that action that we wanted to run particularly well," Leep described. "But I remember from the angle that I was standing when he let that thing go, it looked pure. Right when he let it go, I knew it was in."

SHARIF KHAN GO-AHEAD 3-POINTER

Khan's final trey capped a rally that saw SPU overcome a seven-point halftime deficit by opening the second half with a 15-7 run. Moffitt completed that surge with two free throws at 14:26 to provide the Falcons first lead, at 51-50, since the midway mark of the opening period.
 
A 6-foot-1 senior guard, Khan increased his season total to a team-high 15 treys.
 
"Sharif has been in the program for five years and there is such a level of trust that we have with him and he knows our system inside-and-out," said Leep. "We've always told him that anytime that he is in rhythm with his feet set and he has a good look, to let it go. He hit two huge ones tonight.
 
"I flashed back to his freshman year when we came over to Central and our team was really injured with only seven available players. Sharif had to make his first start at point guard and played all 40 minutes without a turnover. So, he's just had some big career moments on that floor and those two shots added to his career highlights there."
 
Freshman Syon Blackmon (Eastside Catholic HS) compiled a career-high 11 points and Paulsen had 10.
 
The Falcons made 46 percent of their second-half shots (13 of 28), slightly increasing their game accuracy to 45 percent (24 of 53).
 
Central went the opposite direction, following a 61-percent first half with 43 percent shooting in the second (12 of 28) to finish at 53 percent for the game (31 of 59).
 
Thompson collected 18 of his game-high 29 points in the second half, joining 20-point scorer Poquette as the Wildcats only double-figure scorers.
 
FIRST-HALF SUMMARY
The Wildcats (0-1) were playing their first game since a 63-56 road loss to SPU on Feb. 29, 2020. They didn't display any signs of rust from the nearly 12-month layoff as they netted the game's first four points.
 
CWU led 8-4 before the visitors staged an 18-6 run, sparked by five points apiece from Blackmon and Kelton Samore. Two free throws by Paulsen with 11:45 showing on the clock forged a 22-14 Falcons lead.
 
Central immediately responded, scoring the next 10 points to reclaim the lead, 24-22. Marqus Gilson had five points during the run.
 
SPU drew within 34-33 on two Samore free throws with 2:41 left in the half, but the Wildcats closed out the period with a 9-3 spree to claim a 43-36 advantage at intermission.
 
That was the largest lead of the game for CWU, which shot 61 percent (19 of 31) in the opening 20 minutes. Poquette headlined that stellar shooting show, making all six of his attempts from the field.
 
The Falcons countered with 44-percent first-half accuracy (11 of 25).
 
WE MEET AGAIN
The same teams square off again Saturday night, but in Seattle this time. Central visits Brougham Pavilion for a 7 p.m. contest.
 
Leep expects another hard-fought battle against SPU's Great Northwest Athletic Conference rivals.
 
"I think it's going to be more of the same. There are some things that we can fix and shore up defensively.
 
"I'll tell you what, if our guys come in and play as hard as we did in the second half, whatever the result may be, I'll go to bed happy. That was such a big step forward for us. Not that we haven't been playing hard, but this was just to a different level. Our group really saw some good results from the effort that they put out."
 
Saturday's game starts another homestand for the SPU men, who host Northwest Nazarene next weekend, on Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. and Feb. 27 at 2 p.m.
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Friday, February 19, 2021
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 86, at Central Washington 82
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-3)
Paulsen 2-4 5-5 10, El Mardi 4-7 0-0 8, Khan 3-4 4-4 12, Cavell 4-14 4-6 14, Moffitt 4-7 10-10 18, Blackmon 4-8 2-2 11, Samore 1-4 5-6 8, Whitman 2-5 0-0 5, Medjo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 30-33 86.
 
CENTRAL WASHINGTON (0-1)
Poquette 8-8 4-4 20, Gilson 2-5 5-6 9, Thompson 11-20 4-7 29, Pope 1-3 0-0 2, Smith 3-9 3-4 9, Rose 0-1 0-0 0, Stafford 3-6 0-0 7, Pollard 3-6 0-0 6, O'Keith 0-1 0-0 0, Hyder 0-0 0-0 0, Gennett 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-59 16-21 82.
 
                                1    2   -  Final
Seattle Pacific.............   36   50   -   86
Central Washington..........   43   39   -   82
 
3-point goals--SPU 8-17 (Khan 2-2, Cavell 2-7, Samore 1-1, Paulsen 1-2, Blackmon 1-2, Whitman 1-3), CWU 4-16 (Thompson 3-7, Stafford 1-2, Smith 0-1, Gilson 0-1, Rose 0-1, Pope 0-2, Pollard 0-2). Fouled out--SPU-None, CWU-Smith. Rebounds--SPU 31 (Cavell 7), CWU 31 (Poquette, Gilson 5). Assists--SPU 12 (Cavell 5), CWU 9 (Poquette 3). Total fouls--SPU 20, CWU 28. Technical fouls--SPU-None, CWU-None.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Central Washington at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Feb. 20, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.