SEATTLE -- Lucas Holden made a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2.3 seconds left to play Saturday, lifting Western Washington to a 79-78 win at Seattle Pacific in a battle of Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball rivals.
 
Zack Paulsen's pass to midcourt on the ensuing inbounds play from the baseline was intercepted by the Vikings Luke Lovelady to deny SPU a game-winning shot attempt.
 
The Falcons trailed 76-73 with less than two minutes to play before reeling off five straight points to vault into a 78-76 lead. Divant'e Moffitt got the go-ahead basket on a contested shot in the lane with 46.3 seconds left and then converted the first of two free throws at 19.7.
 
Moffitt's second free throw rimmed off, representing SPU's only miss in 13 attempts from the line. That gave the Vikings an opportunity to find a game-winning basket and not just a tying try.
 
On the subsequent possession, Western got the ball into the hands of D'Angelo Minnis, who rebounded his own miss of a floater in the key with seven seconds remaining. He was surrounded by four Falcons in the lane, but managed to feed a pass to Holden in the corner for the decisive trey.
 
"He's a good player and scrapped to make a play," SPU coach Grant Leep said of the 5-foot-10 Minnis. "The smallest guy on the floor finds a way to get the offensive rebound and then made the right play."
 
That was the second game-winning shot in as many games that Minnis engineered. In Thursday's 83-80 overtime win at Montana State Billings, he drained a half-court shot at the buzzer.
 
Saturday's setback spoiled Senior Day for the Falcons, who honored six departing players before tip-off of their final regular-season game on Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion.

SPU SENIOR DAY CEREMONY

SPU (14-10) dropped to 7-6 in conference contests with their second loss in the last three outings, all of them at home.
 
The Vikings (14-11) saw their GNAC record improve to 7-8 as they avenged a previous loss to SPU, a 78-59 result on Jan. 20 in Bellingham.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
Moffitt led all scorers with 20 points for SPU and also distributed five assists.
 
Shaw Anderson contributed 18 points for the Falcons, who also got 15 from Harry Cavell.
 
SPU shot 50 percent during the second half (15 of 30) to improve to 49 percent for the game (29 of 59). The hosts produced 8-for-19 accuracy on 3-pointers.
 
Western countered with a 59-percent effort from the field (30 of 51), including a torrid 63-percent (15 of 24) performance after halftime. The Vikings made 10 of 18 shots behind the arc.
 
Kai Johnson accumulated 12 of his team-high 16 points during the first period to help WWU take a 38-36 halftime edge.
 
Daniel Hornbuckle added 14 points for Western on the strength of 4-for-7 shooting on treys. Holden and Jalen Green each pitched in 11.
 
Holden and Johnson combined for 27 points off the bench, fueling a 36-9 advantage for the Vikings in scoring by reserves.
 
Lovelady collected a game-high seven rebounds to lead WWU's 28-24 command of the boards.
 
"Western played great. They have a lot of guys who just make shots and they made 10 threes and got some good production off the bench," Leep said. "They made some shots. Our guys kind of withstood their run and played pretty tough when we needed to and got stops. We were able to find ways to score and close that deficit to take a lead late in the second half.
 
"But this was one of those nights and it wasn't enough. Great job by them to create an extra possession at the end of the game, find and open three and hitting it. They are a good team, a talented team that made the plays."

HARRY CAVELL GAME-OPENING TIP-IN

TIGHT FIRST HALF
After an exchange of baskets to start the game, SPU scored three straight baskets to ignite a 15-5 surge. The run finished with nine unanswered points, capped by a jumper from Moffitt that forged a 17-7 Falcons advantage with 13:28 left in the first half.
 
WWU immediately responded by netting the next six points. That began a 9-2 run that brought the visitors within 19-16.
 
After SPU stretched its margin to 26-21, the Vikings tallied seven straight points to claim their first lead of the game. Holden started the surge with a top-of-the-key 3-pointer followed by back-to-back jumpers from Johnson that provided a 28-26 edge with 6:44 showing on the clock.
 
Western later staged a 10-5 run to go ahead, 38-33.
 
Moffitt hit a fading trey from out top with 6.7 seconds left to bring the Falcons within 38-36 by halftime.
 
SPU shot a fine 48 percent from the field (14 of 29) in the first half, but their opponents were better, at 56 percent (15 of 27).
 
SECOND HALF SUMMARY
The hosts rallied to claim a brief 46-43 edge after Sharif Khan's 3-pointer at 16:53 completed a 7-2 run.
 
The lead then changed hands five times before Anderson created the game's last deadlock, at 64-64, on a layup with 10:12 remaining.
 
The Vikings tallied the next seven points to capture a lead that lasted until the score was 76-73 after a Lovelady layup with 1:46 remaining.
 
SPU went on a five-point spree over the next 86 seconds to take a 78-76 edge and set the stage for Holden's heroics.
 
SO LONG TO SIX FALCONS
The six SPU student-athletes recognized before the game were Cavell, Mehdi El Mardi, Filip Fullerton, Khan, Jacob Medjo and Moffitt.
 
Two of them rank among the Top-10 all-time scorers for the Falcons. Moffitt has compiled 1,383 career points to rank No. 9.
 
Cavell is one of only four players currently listed among the Top-10 SPU players in both scoring and rebounding. He ranks No. 7 with 1,465 points and his 660 rebounds rank 10th.
 
"This group has been foundational to the success that we've had over the few years. The way that they came in and developed as players and developed as people is remarkable," Leep described. "They're good students that are about the right things. They've just represented our program in a way that makes me so proud.
 
"We're going to miss these guys. It's crazy how fast the time goes and here we are with those six guys winding down SPU careers. I appreciate everything that they've done for our program."
 
NEXT WEEK
The SPU men hit the road for three games next week, beginning with a visit to Alaska Fairbanks on Monday at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
 
The Falcons visit Northwest Nazarene on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. PST before closing out their regular-season slate at Central Washington on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 6:15 p.m.
 
"Our backs are against the wall here a little bit and we have to have that underdog mentality that our guys have adopted pretty well. We are on the road for three in a row. We have to be gritty and resilient and tough.  With how much we have to travel and how we handle practices and everything, we have to be smart and manage those things the right way. Our guys will rise to the challenge.
 
RECORDS
Western Washington 14-11, 7-8 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 14-10, 7-6 GNAC
 
NEXT SPU GAME
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks
Monday, February 21; 8:00 p.m. PST
Alaska Airlines Gymnasium / Fairbanks, Alaska