FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12
Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m. PST
Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13
Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m. PST
Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
• Webcast link for both games: https://www.youtube.com/user/SPUsports
• LiveStats link for both games: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball
 
A five-game men's basketball homestand ends this week for Seattle Pacific with two games versus Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Saint Martin's. The Falcons (5-2) and Saint (0-6) clash on Friday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m., a change from the originally scheduled start time four hours later, and Saturday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. Both games take place on Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion. The Falcons won the last four encounters versus SMU, including back-to-back road wins in Lacey on Jan. 20 and 21.

 

Last Week
Seattle Pacific stretched its winning streak to five games with a 79-72 home victory over Northwest University on Feb. 3 behind the 26-point, 7-rebound, 7-assist performance of Harry Cavell. Red-shirt freshman Zack Paulsen netted a career-high 17 points to out-duel his brother Jace, a Northwest starter. The Falcons lost their opening two games, at home versus Whitworth, and then proceeded to sweep a pair of home games from Saint Martin's and two home contests against fourth-ranked Lewis-Clark State.
 
Falcons Fast Facts
• Four Falcons average double-figure points, including three starters and reserve Kelton Samore
 
• Harry Cavell is the only Falcon to register double-digit points in all seven games
 
• Cavell has 1,062 career points to rank No. 22 among all-time Falcons. He reached 1,000 on Jan. 27
 
• Cavell has collected 488 career rebounds, needing 12 to become SPU's 16th 500-rebound player
 
• Only 10 players in SPU men's basketball history have compiled both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds
 
• SPU, the 2020 NCAA D-II leader (80.5%), tops the nation in free throw accuracy at 85.8% (121 of 141)
 
• The Falcons converted 25 of 26 free throws in a 70-62 win at Saint Martin's on Jan. 21
 
• Point guard Divant'e Moffitt posted a pair of 30-point performances (32 on Jan. 27 & 30 on Jan. 13)
 
• SPU had consecutive GNAC Players of the Week in Kelton Samore (Jan. 25) & Harry Cavell (Feb. 1)
 
• Nine of the 12 Falcons that played this season have established a career-high game scoring total
 
• Senior guard Sharif Khan leads the Falcons in both steals (13) and blocked shots (5)
 
Abbreviated Schedule
With six schools opting out this year, the GNAC announced Dec. 17 that there would not be a conference season and the Falcons fended for themselves in finding opponents. SPU will almost certainly play fewer games than in any of its prior 76 seasons. Just once have the Falcons played less than 20 games, and that was in 1945-46 when they competed 18 times (3-15). There are currently 13 games scheduled, 10 of them at home. There may be additional opponents inserted into the schedule.
 
Scouting Saint Martin's (0-6)
> The Saints are winless despite a trio of double-figure scorers in Alex Schumacher (14.7), Tyke Thompson (13.3) and Ty Velasquez (10.3).
 
> Aaron Landon is in his second season after coaching SMU to a 6-23 record in 2020 with a 4-16 GNAC mark.
 
> SPU owns a 101-41 series lead despite losing seven of the last 12 matchups. The Falcons won the last four meetings with a two-game sweep last season and a pair of victories in Lacey: 91-81 (Jan. 20) and 70-62 (Jan. 21).
 
> The Saints ended SPU's 2019 season with a 67-63 triumph on March 16 in San Diego, Calif. in the NCAA Division II West Regional semifinal.
 
Coach Leep
The GNAC's 2020 Coach of the Year Grant Leep, 41, is in his fifth season directing the SPU men's basketball program after seven years as an assistant on the Falcons staff. He has a 78-44 career record. Leep coached the 2020 team to a 22-7 record that featured a 14-game winning streak. His Falcons won the GNAC regular-season championship and qualified for the cancelled NCAA West Regional as the No. 5 seed.  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.

 

Dynamic Divant'e
Point guard Divant'e Moffitt leads SPU with 5.1 assists per game and is second in points at 17.4. He notched two 30-point performances in 2021, increasing his career total to four. Moffitt erupted for 32 points versus Lewis-Clark State (Jan. 28) and 30 against Whitworth (Jan. 13). He was honored as a unanimous first-team All-GNAC selection in 2020. His 17.1-point average ranked fourth in the GNAC in 2020 and his 3.4 assists were seventh. Moffitt poured in a career-high 33 points at Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 30, 2020. He reached double-digits 24 times last season, nine of them 20-plus point performances. Moffitt was the Falcons top scorer in 13 games and leading assister 18 times. He shot 51 percent from the field and 81% from the free throw line.
 
2021 Season Preview
The Falcons feature their returning backcourt tandem from last year's GNAC championship team. Junior point guard Divant'e Moffitt, a first-team All-GNAC honoree, topped the team with a 17.1-point scoring average and was the leading playmaker with 99 assists (3.4 apg). Senior guard Harry Cavell was second on SPU in scoring (13.5 ppg) and was the best rebounder, collecting 6.7 caroms per contest. Another returning starter is sophomore center Filip Fullerton who shot 57 percent from the floor while averaging 7.0 points and 3.4 rebounds. A talented cast of newcomers include two red-shirts, three transfers and three freshmen.
 
2020 Review
Seattle Pacific registered a 22-7 record in 2020, including a 14-game winning streak that was the program's second longest, to qualify for the NCAA Tournament that was cancelled March 12 due to the pandemic. SPU won the league regular-season title with an 18-2 mark. Grant Leep was the 2020 GNAC Coach of the Year, Shaw Anderson was the Freshman of the Year and Harry Cavell shared Defensive Player of the Year.