SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team travels to Azusa, Calif. to compete in the GNAC/PacWest Challenge on Friday and Saturday. The Falcons take on host Azusa Pacific on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before taking on Concordia Irvine on Saturday at 5 p.m. 

QUOTABLE
"We are excited to head back to APU for the second consecutive week," head coach Grant Leep said. "We were very pleased with how hard we played as a group and the identity we are starting to form as a team. We have been moving the ball well and playing at a good pace. We have put together a string of good plays at times just by staying true to what we've been teaching. We are improving every time we take the court, and I hope we continue to see the improvements we've been emphasizing in practice against APU and CUI Friday and Saturday."

GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced its first set of weekly basketball awards on Monday morning, as Seattle Pacific's unanimous Preseason All-Conference selection Shaw Anderson earned the GNAC Player of the Week honor.

Anderson played 74 minutes over two games last weekend. He averaged 30 points while going 16-for-28 from the field. He knocked down six 3-pointers and was perfect from the free throw line making all 22 attempts over the weekend. Anderson pulled down eight total rebounds and had three assists and three blocks in an outstanding opening weekend of play.

FAMILIAR FALCONS
Anderson wasn't the only returner with impactful performances for SPU last weekend. Kelton Samore popped off in Friday's 84-79 win over Chico State. Samore scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds against the Wildcats. He went 6-for-8 from the field while knocking down two 3-pointers on his way to 14 points. 

Then on Saturday, Zack Paulsen couldn't miss against Cal Poly Pomona. Paulsen wasn't far behind his teammate, scoring 29 points while going 8-for-12 from the field. He knocked down eight 3-pointers on the night and had three rebounds and four steals against the Broncos.

IMPRESSIVE NEWCOMERS
Other standouts from last weekend's games were Ben Baker-McCann and Trace Evans. Baker-McCann matched Samore with 14 points on Friday night. He was efficient as well, going 6-for-7 from the field while pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Evans was a consistent presence for the Falcons last weekend. He averaged 7.5 points and five rebounds per game. 

SCOUTING THE AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS (1-2)
After going 21-10 a season ago, the Cougars were picked to win the PacWest in the 2022-23 coaches poll. The team garnered 112 points to secure the top spot, just one point above second place predicted finisher, Point Loma. 

APU returns 11 players from last year's team to the 2022-23 roster. Justin Hemsley and Ken West were named to the Preseason All-PacWest Team. Both Hemsley and West earned First Team All-PacWest honors a season ago. Hemsley averaged 12.7 points per game and from the field, he had a shooting percentage of nearly 48 percent. West averaged 14.1 points per game, totaling 438 points on the year while shooting nearly 52 percent from the field and 42 percent from beyond the arc. 

The Cougars have played three games early in the season. They've suffered consecutive losses to Chico State (81-74) and Cal State Los Angeles (69-59). West leads the club with 14.7 points per game, while McKelary Robertson isn't far behind with 12.7 points per game. 

SCOUTING THE CONCORDIA GOLDEN EAGLES (1-1)
The Golden Eagles were slated for a fifth-place finish in the Preseason PacWest Coaches Poll. Head coach Ken Ammann is headed into his 22nd year and CUI. 

A standout returner for the Golden Eagles is sophomore Kobe Sanders. He averaged 10.7 points per game, 4.0 assists per game, and 2.6 rebounds per game. Cameron Fini also returns to the team after averaging 4.5 points per game, and 3.2 rebounds per game. 

Last weekend, CUI took on CSULA and CSU Dominguez Hills. They won their opener against CSULA 73-63 before falling to the Toros 79-72. Lance Coleman II leads the team with 22 points per game, while Bryce Fitzgerald follows with 14 points per game.