AZUSA, Calif. – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team took on host Azusa Pacific in the GNAC/PacWest Challenge on Friday night. A trio of Falcons scored in double figures, but a big first half from the Cougars proved too much as they took the game 77-70.
Shaw Anderson, Zack Paulsen, and Ben Baker-McCann turned in solid performances for the Falcons on Friday night. Anderson led the way with 19 points on 5-for-7 shooting. He was perfect from the 3-point and free throw lines, knocking down three 3-pointers and six free throws.
Paulsen scored 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting with six rebounds. Baker-McCann was two rebounds away from a double-double, scoring 12 points with eight rebounds. Unfortunately, the Falcons had a hill to climb after the first half against the Cougars.
The Cougars started fast on their home floor, jumping out to an 8-0 lead over the first two minutes of the game. Their lead would hover around five points until the 11:02 mark. Ken West knocked down a 3-pointer that started another 8-0 run that happened in 1:20. The short burst gave APU a 27-14 lead with 9:24 to play in the first half.
"Tonight, our start wasn't good enough," head coach Grant Leep said. "To start down 8-0 put us in a position where we were chasing from behind, and that's a difficult position against a good team. We eventually settled down and did a much better job in the second half, and at one point had the lead cut to three. I loved seeing the fight our guys had, but we need to have that from the opening tip."
The Cougars led 43-25 with 3:20 to go in the first half. The Falcons made a run late in the first half. Syon Blackmon's layup capped a 7-0 run that cut the APU led to 11 points. The Cougars led the Falcons 43-32 at halftime.
The Cougars created separation from beyond the arc in the first half. They went 7-for-14 from deep, while the Falcons hit just two 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.
SPU went on to outscore APU in the second half. They found their 3-point shot and went 5-for-9 from deep in the second half. The Falcons were shaky from the free throw line, finishing the game 13-for-20 (65 percent) from the charity stripe.
An and-one from Kelton Samore, followed by a 3-pointer from Paulsen trimmed the gap to just eight points with 15 minutes left in the game. After a bucket from the Cougars, a fast-break 3-pointer from Anderson had the Falcons trailing 50-43. Later, Anderson hit another three, as the Falcons pulled to within four of the Cougars with 10:28 to go in the game.
The game stayed around a five-point difference until the closing moments. Baker-McCann hit a smooth jumper to bring the score to 69-66 in favor of the Cougars with just 1:52 to play. APU created some late separation and went on to take the game 77-70.
The Falcons wrap up the GNAC/PacWest challenge tomorrow against Concordia Irvine at 5 p.m. from the Felix Events Center at APU.