THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 7:00 p.m. PST
New PE Building / Monmouth, Ore.
       • Webcast:  https://www.youtube.com/wouwolves
       • LiveStats:  https://wouwolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5
Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 7:30 p.m. PST
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
       • Webcast:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0nnHgoQKxoWpIvmsFX71kQ
       • LiveStats:  https://smusaints.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
 
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8
Western Oregon at Seattle Pacific, 5:00 p.m. PST
Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12
Montana State Billings at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m. PST
Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
       • Webcasts: https://www.youtube.com/user/SPUsports
       • LiveStats: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball
       • Tickets: https://www.spufalcons.com/tickets
(Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test required for attendance at SPU home games)
 
The Falcons face a frenetic February that features nine men's basketball games. Seattle Pacific starts the hectic month with a pair of road games this week, beginning on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. in Monmouth. SPU (12-8, 5-4 GNAC) clashes with Western Oregon (3-13, 2-6) for the first time this season. Those same two teams meet again five days later, on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m., to begin a four-game homestand on SPU's Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion. That is a makeup of a Jan. 8 game in Seattle that was postponed. Before Tuesday's home contest, the Falcons visit Lacey, Washington to clash with league-leading Saint Martin's (14-4, 7-2) on Saturday, Feb 5 at 7:30 p.m. That is a rematch of their Jan. 17 meeting in Seattle won 68-65 by SPU on a last-second 3-pointer from the left corner by Shaw Anderson. The current two-week stretch concludes with a home game versus Montana State Billings on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. The Yellowjackets (8-9, 4-3) were 67-54 victors in this season's first matchup with SPU, on Jan. 15 in Billings.
 
Falcons Fast Facts
• SPU leads the GNAC and ranks No. 2 nationally in free throw accuracy at 80.1 percent (278-347). Nine of 11 Falcons who attempted a free throw are shooting better than 70%
 
• SPU was the most accurate NCAA D-II free shooting team in both 2020 (80.5%) and 2021 (84.2%)
 
• Divant'e Moffitt ranks 4th among GNAC scorers (18.4 ppg) and Shaw Anderson is No. 16 (13.9)
 
• The Falcons boast a 7-1 home record, the lone loss coming vs. Central Washington (68-65) on Dec. 2
 
• Sophomore guard Zack Paulsen posted SPU's only two double-doubles (Nov. 12 & Dec. 13)
 
• Paulsen (2) & Mehdi El Mardi (1) accounted for all three of the Falcons double-digit rebound games
 
• Three Falcons have a 30-point game in their career: Divant'e Moffitt (5), Shaw Anderson (2) & Harry Cavell (1)
 
Revised Schedule
Two upcoming games are new to the slate for the Falcons, having been rescheduled. They entertain Western Oregon on Feb. 8 in a game originally scheduled for Jan. 8. SPU visits Alaska Fairbanks on Feb. 21 after their Jan. 1 meeting was postponed.
 
Dynamic Divant'e
Senior point guard Divant'e Moffitt compiled 51 points while shooting 58 percent to lead SPU to a pair of home victories last week. Moffitt hit 18 of 31 shots from the field, including 4-for-8 accuracy on 3-pointers while converting 11 of 12 free throws. He completed the week with a season-high 31-point performance in a 91-59 rout of Alaska Anchorage (Jan. 29). Moffitt made 11 of 15 shots and was 4-for-5 on treys. In the 74-72 overtime victory over Alaska Fairbanks (Jan. 27), Moffitt compiled 10 of his 20 points during the final two minutes of regulation and the five-minute extra session. He scored the winning basket on a drive down the lane and a shot that banked high off the backboard with 1.8 seconds left in overtime. Moffitt is scoring at an 18.4-point clip to top the Falcons this season. His 77 assists (3.9 apg) are more than twice as many as any of his teammates have distributed.
 
 

Cavell's Career Numbers
Guard Harry Cavell is the 10th player in SPU history to reach both the 1,000-point and 600-rebound milestones. Cavell's 1,406 career points rank No. 7 in school history and he ranks No. 12 in career rebounds with 640. He needs four rebounds to tie Jeff Case (1974-78) in the No. 11 spot with 644 career boards. A graduate student, Cavell was a preseason All-GNAC selection after garnering second-team post-season acclaim and being honored as the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2020.
 
Notable
SPU has played an extremely difficult schedule with two of its losses coming against teams currently ranked among the Top-10 nationally. The combined record of the eight opponents to defeated the Falcons is 81-32 (71.7%) and only one of those has a losing record.
 
Scouting Western Oregon (3-13, 2-6 GNAC)
The Wolves lost their last seven games, including a 75-73 home overtime setback on Tuesday against Simon Fraser. Their two GNAC wins came at home versus the Alaska schools. Cameron Cranston scores at an 18.6-point clip to top WOU. SPU leads the all-time series 44-25 and won the last four meetings to halt a 10-game losing skid versus Western Oregon. The teams last met in 2020, playing two tight games. The Falcons rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to win on Jan. 11, 2020 at WOU, a 98-88 overtime decision led by Shaw Anderson's 34 points. SPU was an 83-82 victor in the Feb. 6 rematch in Seattle.
 
Scouting Saint Martin's (14-4, 7-2 GNAC)
The Saints won their last three games and their last loss came Jan. 17 in Seattle on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left corner by SPU's Shaw Anderson. SMU tops the GNAC in scoring margin with a +14.2 figure that is nearly six points better than any other team. The Saints also lead the league in 3-point percentage at 42.1 percent. A trio of SMU double-digit scorers is led by the 14.8-point average of Brett Reed, who also paces the team with 8.3 rebounds per game. SPU won the last two encounters to increase its series lead to 103-42. The teams met three times last season with the Falcons emerging victorious in three of them.
 
SHAW ANDERSON GAME-WINNING TREY VS. SAINT MARTIN'S

Scouting Montana State Billings (8-9, 4-3 GNAC)
The Yellowjackets boast the stingiest defense in the GNAC, surrendering just 64.4 points per game. MSUB is led by a pair of double-digit scorers in Carrington Wiggins (17.2 ppg) and Damen Thacker (13.7). The Falcons lead the series by a 46-32 margin despite suffering a 67-54 setback in this season's first meeting, on Jan. 15 in Billings. The Yellowjackets lost 11 of their last 13 matchups versus SPU.
 
1,000-Point Scorers
Two players on the current roster have produced 1,000 career points in a Falcons uniform. Shooting guard Harry Cavell reached that milestone last season and currently ranks eighth among all-time SPU players with 1,406 career points. Point guard Divant'e Moffitt netted his 1,000th career point on Nov. 13 and has increased that to 1,306 points, a figure that ranks No. 12 on the school scoring chart. Chris Banchero (2008-11) is in the No. 11 spot with 1,327 career points.
 
 

Shaw Returns
Shaw Anderson, the 2020 GNAC Freshman of the Year, returned to the court after missing last season. He ranks second among Falcons with 13.9 points per game and his 37 treys are 12 more than any teammate. Anderson averaged 12.8 points while shooting 55 percent from the field in 2020. The 6-foot-6 forward was even better outside the arc, nailing 56.3 percent of his 3-pointers (58 of 103). Anderson compiled a streak off 11 straight successful 3-pointers from Jan. 30 to Feb. 8, 2020. He netted a career-high 34 points at Western Oregon (Jan. 11, 2020). Anderson posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds vs. CWU on Feb. 29, 2020.
 
2022 Season Preview
Seattle Pacific was a unanimous choice to win the 2022 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship in the coaches poll released Oct. 15 and for good reason. All five starters return from last season's 10-3 team, including the team's top-10 point producers. The Falcons feature Preseason Player of the Year selection Divant'e Moffitt along with projected all-conference candidates Shaw Anderson and Harry Cavell. Moffitt, a 2020 All-West Region honoree, topped the team with 17.6 points and 5.2 assists per game last season. Cavell scored at a 16.7-point clip and led the Falcons with 7.2 rebounds in 2021. Anderson missed all last year after receiving the 2020 GNAC Freshman of the Year award. They are joined by returning starters at guard, Sharif Khan (9.9 ppg), Zack Paulsen (9.6), and center Mehdi El Mardi (7.6). While limited to eight games, forward Kelton Samore averaged 10.3 points when healthy. "We have so many returning players, 14 of them. They are just hungry to compete and play, and play in front of people again and be a part of what is means to be a basketball player at SPU and have that experience," said Coach Grant Leep.
 
Coach Leep
The GNAC's 2020 Coach of the Year Grant Leep, 42, is in his sixth season directing the SPU men's basketball program after seven years as an assistant on the Falcons staff. He has a 95-53 career record. Leep coached the 2021 to a 10-3 record over a schedule abbreviated due to the COVID outbreak. The 2020 team's 22-7 record featured a 14-game winning streak. His Falcons won the 2020 GNAC regular-season championship and qualified for the cancelled NCAA West Regional as the No. 5 seed. Leep has strong basketball ties throughout the Northwest as an All-America player at Mount Vernon (Wash.) High School before lettering four years at Washington. Leep still owns the Huskies 3-point accuracy records for a season (52.7% in 2002) and career (42.9%). His coaching resumé includes stops at Eastern Washington and a pair of community colleges. SPU had a 165-51 (.764) record during his time as an assistant.
 
Brougham Pavilion Entry Policies
Fans are welcome back to Brougham Pavilion. In compliance with King County guidelines, spectators 12-years-of-age and older attending SPU athletic events are required to provide proof of full vaccination or present a negative COVID-19 test. Acceptable forms of proof include a CDC-issued Vaccination Record Card, a photo of the card, the Washington state myIRmobile.com app or a document from a health care provider. Those who cannot provide proof of vaccination may instead present documentation of a negative FDA-approved COVID-19 test administered by a professional and dated within 72 hours of the event. Mask wearing is mandatory at all times and spectators are encouraged to social distance when possible.