SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team restarted Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on Thursday when Northwest Nazarene visited Royal Brougham Pavilion. The Falcons turned to toughness, out-rebounding the Nighthawks while sharing the ball offensively to earn the 79-69 victory.
The Falcons brought energy and effort into tonight's game. They out-rebounded the Nighthawks 40-27 for the contest. NNU's Gabriel Murphy entered the game leading the conference in rebounding. The Falcons held him to just five boards for the game. Shaw Anderson led the Falcons with eight rebounds, followed by Ben Baker-McCann who had seven.
"Historically, NNU is one of the hardest playing teams in our league," head coach Grant Leep said. "They are very well coached. We've been all over our group about playing harder and we did that tonight. I was proud of how we responded to a couple of tough games in California. I thought our guys did a great job limiting their offensive rebounding and it was key for us tonight."
The Falcons paired their grit on the glass with a balanced offensive effort. Five players scored in double figures, led by Anderson's game-high 17. Kelton Samore poured in 13 points and had five rebounds. Zack Paulsen, Maui Sze, and Casson Rouse scored 12 points each.
The Falcons have been the best shooting team in the conference so far this season. They continued to knock down shots in Thursday's game. They went 23-for-48 (47.9 percent) for the game, including 13 3-pointers made. Sze and Rouse led the way with four triples each, while Samore hit two.
"One of the strengths of this team is how balanced we are and how well we move the ball. When we get in a rhythm and move the ball, we have guys who can finish plays. It was really big for us tonight. This is a group that plays together and they love the game. When we've needed them to level up in something they've generally done that. Now it will be about continuing to do that moving forward."
The early stages of Thursday's game belonged to the Nighthawks. A two-handed slam from Timothy Tenkley put NNU up 17-9 just under 10 minutes into the game. The Falcons turned it around with a 16-5 run highlighted by 3-pointers from Paulsen and Sze. With 5:47 to go in the first half, the Falcons led 25-22. SPU continued to play well offensively. Anderson capped the half with a layup to push the score to 36-32 at the half.
The game was tight throughout the second half. Sze got the Falcons' scoring started in the second half with a crucial 3-pointer. Later, Rouse would splash one home to tie the game at 49 with 12:51 left.
The Falcons gained a narrow 65-62 lead with less than seven minutes to play. Sze hit another timely 3-pointer to extend the lead to six points. After back-to-back baskets from the Nighthawks, Samore knocked down a much-needed three. SPU used free throws late to extend their lead to its largest margin as the final horn sounded.
"If we can continue to play hard like we did tonight, we'll be happy with the results that we're going to get," Leep added. "Our guys did a nice job tonight."
The Falcons host Central Washington Saturday at 4:15 p.m.