CARSON, Calif. – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team played their final non-conference game of the regular season on Monday afternoon, as they visited CSU Dominguez Hills. The Falcons needed and put together a strong second half, but it wasn't enough as the Toros took it 80-74.
The Falcons struggled early against the Toros on Monday afternoon. SPU shot a mere 35.7 percent (10-for-28) from the field, including just two 3-pointers made. CSUDH took advantage of the miss shots, entering halftime with a 45-24 lead.
"Similar to Saturday, we were in a position of playing from behind to start the game," head coach Grant Leep said. "We never found our identity or effort until the second half. We put ourselves in too big of a hole tonight."
The Falcons did what was necessary to turn the game around in the second half. Shots began to fall as they hit 57.6 percent of their attempts from the field. They knocked down nine 3-pointers and made all their free throw attempts. The gap continued to shrink as they tried to track down the Toros.
SPU opened the second half with an 18-10 run. Kelton Samore was unstoppable during that stretch, exploding for 10 consecutive points to open the second half. Syon Blackmon took over after Samore, scoring eight straight points to close out the run. The Falcons trailed 55-42 with 13:21 to go in the game.
Momentum swung back to the Toros during the middle stages of the second half. A 3-pointer from Cameron Barry with 4:51 to go moved the score to 70-55. A dunk from CSUDH on the next trip down the floor seemed to put the Falcons away.
SPU went back to work over the final four minutes. A 3-pointer from Casson Rouse cut the Toro lead to single-digits. The shot was the culmination of a 13-7 run for SPU. Shaw Anderson and Rouse hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 14 seconds, but it wasn't enough to get back into the game.
Blackmon put together an excellent game for SPU. He led the Falcons with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting, including a 5-for-9 performance from 3-point range. Blackmon pulled down five rebounds, dished out five assists, and had two blocks to complete a great night.
Anderson and Samore scored 16 points each. Anderson grabbed five rebounds and had two assists, while Samore finished with four boards. Ben Baker-McCann led the Falcons with eight rebounds.
"Our best ball is in front of us," Leep said. "I do not doubt that, but we must stop putting ourselves in situations of desperation. It will be nice for us to have a break. We'd rather go into the break with a win, but this is the situation we're in. I'm looking forward to getting back to work and getting on track."
The Falcons are back at Royal Brougham Pavilion as the conference schedule goes into full swing on Dec. 29 when they host Northwest Nazarene at 5:15 p.m.