SEATTLE -- Zack Paulsen out-dueled his brother while Harry Cavell tallied 19 of his team-high 26 points during the first half Wednesday for Seattle Pacific, which surged ahead early and held on for a 79-72 men's basketball win over Northwest University on Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion.
 
Paulsen, a 6-foot-4 red-shirt freshman, started at guard for SPU. In the opposing starting lineup for Northwest was his older brother, Jase, a 6-2 wing who hit two treys for a six-point outing.
 
Zack countered with a career-high 17 points, including three 3-pointers of his own in five attempts behind the arc.
 
"Zack was really looking forward to playing against his brother. I don't know how many times they've been able to do that on opposing teams," said SPU coach Grant Leep. "That was a special moment for both of them and for their family.
 
"We lose sight that Zack only played six games last year and missed a bunch of practice time. So, this was his 13th collegiate game and we're still seeing improvements. He plays hard, he's extremely competitive and he's just not afraid of the moment."
 
Both Zack and Jase prepped at Curtis High School in University Place, Washington near Tacoma.
 
Cavell accumulated 12 of his points from the free throw line, where he missed just once. The senior guard led all rebounders with seven to spark SPU's 27-26 edge on the boards.
 
"Harry did a good job of coming out with some energy and some aggression, and that obviously helped carry us in the first half," Leep said.
 
"He's an unselfish player who takes the right shots for the most part. Guys love playing with him. When you are playing hard and you are open and Harry has the ball, you feel like you're going to get it."
 
Seven times Cavell set up teammates for baskets, matching the career-best total of seven assists he had previously recorded twice.

HARRY CAVELL DUNK

Junior point guard Divant'e Moffitt chipped in 10 points and four assists for SPU.
 
The Falcons (5-2), who registered their fifth consecutive victory, trailed for less than two minutes early in the game before building a lead of 13 points one time in each half. That lead never shrunk below five points after halftime.
 
The only time SPU was in any serious jeopardy was midway through the second period when a sour stretch of four-turnovers-in-five-possessions enabled the Eagles to close within 58-53 with 10 minutes to play. The Falcons only points during that drought came on a 3-pointer by Sharif Khan.
 
Center Mehdi El Mardi ignited a 12-5 surge on a clever move and layup with 9:50 remaining and Zack Paulsen capped the spree on a 3-pointer at 6:17 for a 70-58 lead to repel the rally.

MEHDI EL MARDI MOVE & LAYUP

The Falcons made more shots than they missed for the second time this season, converting 52 percent of their attempts (28 of 54). They gained a 13-point advantage from the line, sinking 17 of 20 free throws to 4 of 6 for the Eagles.
 
Northwest, an NAIA competitor from Kirkland, Washington, was led by Kelvin Omojola's brilliant shooting display. He compiled 27 points, fueled by 6-for-7 accuracy beyond the arc. Daniel Sharpe added 10 points.
 
The Eagles were more accurate than their hosts, hitting 53 percent of their shots (28 of 53), including 12-of-22 efficiency on 3-pointers.
 
"The biggest place they hurt us was the 3-point line," said Leep, who was otherwise pleased with his team's defense. "We felt like we left some points on the board, in the first half especially, but then we held them to 29 points in the first half.
 
"We weren't functioning at the level that we wanted to offensively, but we at least we're doing some decent things defensively that were making it a challenge for them."
 
First-Half Summary
In the first half, the Falcons fell behind 8-4 before reeling off 13 unanswered points, paced by seven from Cavell. When he made a driving layup with 14:02 showing on the clock, SPU owned a 17-8 lead.
 
Northwest came up empty on five possessions during the SPU surge, missing four shots and committing two turnovers during that span.
 
Pa'Treon Lee halted the Eagles' drought with a driving layup at 13:42. They later netted five straight points to move within 21-15 with 10:20 left in the first half.
 
The Falcons had runs of six and then seven points to stretch the differential to a high of 13 points, at 34-21, at 5:12. They were unable to build on that lead, instead hitting a rough patch of six scoreless possessions. Seven straight missed shots and a turnover prevented them from producing points.
 
The visitors capitalized with back-to-back 3-pointers from Omojola and, after consecutive SPU baskets, Northwest's Sharpe capped the half with a layup.
 
The Falcons owned a 38-29 halftime advantage on the strength of Cavell's 19 points, including a perfect 9-for-9 from the line that accounted for all of their free throws. He represented half of the team's first-period scoring total and also had three assists at that juncture.
 
Seattle Pacific shot 45 percent before intermission, but made just 1 of 8 treys. The Eagles countered with 42-percent shooting (11 of 26) and 5-for-11 accuracy on 3-pointers, but hurt themselves with 12 turnovers.
 
Break Before Facing Familiar Foes
After three weeks of playing two-game sets on consecutive nights, the Falcons get a break. Wednesday's contest was their only game of the week and now they don't play for eight days.
 
"This will be good for us, almost like a mid-season point. It allows us to reset and get away from these midweek games and onto this Friday-Saturday schedule," Leep said.
 
"We have a lot to learn, a lot to improve still. We were fortunate tonight to be able to win the basketball game. There are lessons that we need to learn about who we want to be, even when we're not at our best, which we weren't tonight."
 
Seattle Pacific's five-game homestand continues with a pair of games next week versus Saint Martin's. The Great Northwest Athletic Conference rivals meet on Friday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. Fans are not allowed to attend due to the pandemic.
 
The Saints and Falcons squared off on back-to-back nights in Lacey, Wash. in mid-January with SPU winning both games.
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 79, Northwest University 72
 
NORTHWEST UNIVERSITY
Paulsen 2-5 0-0 6, Sharpe 5-5 0-1 10, Sandoval 0-4 2-2 2, Omojola 10-15 1-1 27, Delgado 0-2 0-0 0, Chatman 3-8 0-0 9, Lee 4-7 1-2 9, Davis 2-5 0-0 5, Langstraat 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 28-53 4-6 72.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (5-2)
Paulsen 6-8 2-2 17, El Mardi 3-5 0-1 6, Khan 3-5 0-0 7, Cavell 7-18 12-13 26, Moffitt 4-9 2-2 10, Blackmon 2-3 1-2 6, Samore 2-5 0-0 5, Whitman 1-1 0-0 2, Medjo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-54 17-20 79.
 
                                  1    2   -  Final
Northwest University..........   29   43   -   72
Seattle Pacific...............   38   41   -   79
 
3-point goals--NW 12-22 (Omojola 6-7, Chatman 3-5, Paulsen 2-4, Davis 1-1, Sandoval 0-1, Delgado 0-2, Lee 0-2), SPU 6-18 (Paulsen 3-5, Khan 1-3, Samore 1-1, Blackmon 1-1, Moffitt 0-2, Cavell 0-6). Fouled out--NW-Sandoval, SPU-None. Rebounds--NW 26 (Sandoval,Omojola 5), SPU 27 (Cavell 7). Assists--NW 16 (Lee 4), SPU 14 (Cavell 7). Total fouls--NW 21, SPU 10. Technical fouls--NW-Sandoval, SPU-None.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific
Friday, Feb. 12, 6:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.