SEATTLE -- Divant'e Moffitt amassed 21 of his season-high 32 points before halftime Thursday for Seattle Pacific, which gained control early and held on for an 87-79 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over visiting Simon Fraser.
 
The Falcons (14-9) improved to 7-5 in league play while avenging a previous loss at SFU. They suffered a 75-72 setback on Jan. 22 in Burnaby, B.C. Subpar 38-percent shooting was the culprit for Seattle Pacific in that previous matchup, but that figure improved to 44 percent (29 of 66) Thursday.
 
Simon Fraser (10-11) suffered its third consecutive setback to fall to 5-8 in GNAC games.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
Moffitt (Spanaway Lake HS) made 10 of 17 shots from the floor, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. He sank 9 of 10 free throws en route to the sixth 30-point performance of his career.
 
The 6-foot-2 point guard came within one of the 33-point career-high total he compiled on Jan. 30, 2020 at Alaska Fairbanks. Moffitt's previous season-best of 31 points came on Jan. 29 of this year, versus Alaska Anchorage.
 
"He's so hard to guard, draws so much contact and keeps teams off balance," SPU coach Grant Leep said of Moffitt. "Then when they rotate over to help on him, Divant'e has such command of our offense that he can make the right plays and get other guys involved.
 
"He's always a threat when the ball is in his hands and he puts a lot of pressure on other teams and keeps them back on their heels. He did a really good job running the show tonight."
 
DIVANT'E MOFFITT DRIVING LAYUP

Shaw Anderson added 19 points and seven rebounds for the Falcons, who also got a near double-double of 17 points and nine rebounds from Harry Cavell.
 
Wilfried Balata paced Simon Fraser with a 23-point, 11-rebound double-double. He helped the visitors match the Falcons team rebounding total of 35.
 
Jordan Lyons added 17 points and Jahmal Wright 11. Julian Roche, who led all scorers with 24 points in the previous encounter, was limited to nine points.
 
Simon Fraser outshot SPU by hitting 46-percent of its shots (26 of 57), but was only 5-for-17 on treys.
 
Both teams surpassed 80 percent from the free throw line with the Falcons converting 20 of 24 attempts while SFU made 22 of 24.
 
TAKING CONTROL EARLY
After SPU's Cavell opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, Simon Fraser reeled off six straight points to claim a lead that would last to the midway point of the first half. The visitors netted five straight points, capped by a free throw from Lyons at 11:05 that produced a 21-15 margin.
 
The Falcons answered with eight straight points, ignited by back-to-back baskets by Anderson. The second came on a rebound and rapid length-of-the-court pass from Bijon Sidhu to Anderson for a fastbreak layup.

SHAW ANDERSON FASTBREAK LAYUP FROM BIJON SIDHU PASS

Moffitt finished the run with a contested layup to forge a 24-21 SPU edge with 8:14 left in the period.
 
"Especially that first half, a couple guys off the bench came in and gave some great minutes and provided some real big energy that helped us get into a flow," Leep said. "We were getting some stops and held them to 37 percent in the first half. That allowed us to play some in transition.
 
"Then when the starters came back in that rhythm continued and we found some really good looks. They were really locked in with each other, especially in that first half."
 
The hosts' lead was 33-31 before they closed the half with an 11-2 surge fueled by eight points from Moffitt. He started the spree with a four-point play after being fouled on a trey from the top of the key.
 
The first half concluded on a high note for the Falcons, who ran a play that found Sharif Khan open for a left-corner 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds displayed on the clock. That provided the game's largest differential to that point, at 44-33, at intermission.
 
Simon Fraser was errant on nine of its final 11 first-half shots and shot just 37 percent (13 of 35) before halftime. SPU countered with 45-percent accuracy (17 of 36) from the field.
 
SECOND HALF SUMMARY
The Falcons tallied the first five points after halftime and were in control the rest of the way.
 
SPU comfortably led by double digits until the eight-minute mark. That's when Balata capped an 8-2 run with a layup that brought Simon Fraser within 65-57.
 
After having its lead trimmed to 73-66, SPU's Zack Paulsen made a play at each end of the floor to help preserve the advantage. He drew a charge on Balata, forcing a turnover while drawing the fourth foul on Simon Frasers' leading scorer.
 
On the ensuing Falcons possession, Paulsen found Anderson underneath for an open layup that forged a 75-66 lead with 3:58 remaining.
 
The Canadians didn't get much closer as they only managed to narrow the deficit to six points, at 85-79, on a lofted shot in the lane by David Penney with 14.4 seconds left to play.
 
Moffitt completed the scoring with two free throws with 10.7 seconds remaining.
 
HARRY CAVELL INTERVIEW

UPCOMING ACTION
The Falcons play their final regular-season home game on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. as the nightcap of a doubleheader with the women's basketball team. That is Senior Day and six departing players from the men's team will be honored with a pregame ceremony prior to tip-off.
 
Two of those players, Cavell and Khan, have been in the program for six seasons, dating back to the 2016-17 campaign which was Leep's first as head coach of the Falcons.
 
"I have yet to have a game as the head coach here at SPU without either Harry or Sharif," Leep exclaimed. "Their experience shone through tonight. Harry did such an awesome job providing energy. There was a fire about him tonight that is contagious for guys. He had six offensive rebounds, which is a big number.
 
"Sharif just finds ways to knock balls around. He gets tips and deflections all the time. Then he hit a huge three at the end of the first half. This is such a fun group and they are really part of that corps."
 
That duo will celebrated on Saturday's Senior Day along with Mehdi El Mardi, Filip Fullerton, Jacob Medjo and Moffitt.
 
The SPU men hit the road for three games next week, beginning with a visit to Alaska Fairbanks on Monday.
 
FALCONS FAST FACTS
• Harry Cavell pushed his career total to 657 rebounds to join the school's all-time Top-10 in that category. He vaulted ahead of previous No. 10 Dave Wortman who collected 655 caroms from 1958-62.
 
• Cavell is listed No. 7 in the school record book with 1,449 points. He is one of only four players to be ranked among the Top-10 Falcons in both points and rebounds, joining Jim Ballard (1970-72), Howard Heppner (1962-66) and Brannon Stone (1998-2002).
 
• Divant'e Moffitt increased his career total to 1,363 points to climb into the No. 9 position among SPU career scorers. He moved ahead of Cory Hutsen, whose 1,334 points accumulated from 2012-15 now rank No. 10 all-time for the Falcons.
 
RECORDS
Simon Fraser 10-11, 5-8 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 14-9, 7-5 GNAC
 
NEXT SPU GAME
Western Washington at Seattle Pacific (Senior Day)
Saturday, February 19; 4:15 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.