ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- Despite a career-high 34-point performance from Divant'e Moffitt on Saturday, Seattle Pacific lost its final regular-season game 91-75 at Central Washington, which got 24 points from David Thompson in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball battle at Nicholson Pavilion.
 
The Wildcats broke open a five-point contest inside the eight-minute mark with unanswered points on three consecutive possessions. Marqus Gilson sank the first of two free throws with 7:15 remaining before Thompson followed with back-to-back driving layups. That provided a 73-63 CWU lead with 6:11 left to play.
 
That started a stretch featuring 15 points from Thompson during the final 6:42.
 
Shaw Anderson's turn-around jumper in the lane with 2:55 displayed on the clock drew SPU within 79-73, but Central netted the next six points to repel the rally and begin a 9-2 game-closing run. The hosts converted 7 of 8 free throws over the final 80 seconds to seal the victory.
 
The Falcons (14-12) suffered their third straight setback, falling below .500 in GNAC play at 7-8. They had not endured a three-game losing skid since November of 2019. Their 2019-20 season started with four defeats.
 
SPU's record in road games dropped to 2-7, contrasting with a fine 9-3 home mark.
 
Central (15-8) improved its conference record to 9-7 while completing a sweep of the season series. The Wildcats were 68-65 winners at Seattle Pacific on Dec. 2 in the GNAC opener for both teams.
 
DIVANT'E MOFFITT MAKES JUMPER WHILE FOULED

SCORING SUMMARY
Moffitt made 14 of 30 shots from the field, including two 3-pointers. He sank 4 of 5 free throw attempts. Twenty-two of his points came during the second half. Moffitt also contributed a game-high six assists and five rebounds.
 
The 6-foot-2 senior point guard eclipsed his previous career-high effort of 33 points, established on Jan. 30, 2020 at Alaska Fairbanks. He has seven 30-point games during his career and three of them were achieved this season.
 
Moffitt's previous high game this year was a 32-pointer versus Simon Fraser on Feb. 17 in Seattle.
 
Harry Cavell recorded a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double for the Falcons, his first of the season and the eighth of his career. Shaw Anderson tallied 14 points.
 
SPU shot 45 percent (30 of 67) despite making just 6 of 26 treys. The Wildcats countered with 56-percent accuracy overall (33 of 59) and were hot from long range. They drained 10 of 15 shots from behind the arc.
 
Thompson made 9 of 17 shots, including 2-for-3 accuracy on 3-pointers.
 
Xavier Smith amassed 14 of his 18 points in the first half for Central, which also got 15 points apiece from Gilson and Matt Poquette. Amari Stafford added 12 points.
 
Four different players collected at least five caroms to lead CWU's 37-30 rebounding advantage.
 
HARRY CAVELL MOVE, DRIVE & OPEN LAYUP

TIGHT FIRST HALF
The teams were never separated by more than six points during a tight, opening 20-minute period. Oddly, the game was never tied, but there were seven lead changes before halftime.
 
After exchanges of baskets on each team's first two trips down the floor, Central put together back-to-back points to claim an 8-5 lead. That margin grew to a high of 21-15 after Smith nailed his third trey in as many tries with 13:16 left in the first half.
 
That margin was matched after consecutive driving layups by Wildcats' Poquette and Gilson created a 27-21 lead with 8:26 remaining.
 
SPU responded with a 13-6 surge, sparked by five points from Anderson, His jumper with 3:02 showing on the clock, forged a 34-33 edge.
 
Thompson's jumper at 2:45 returned the lead to CWU, 35-34.
 
Moffitt hit a floater and then fed Zack Paulsen for a back-door layup with 40.6 seconds left to set the halftime score at 38-35 in favor of the Falcons.
 
Both teams shot well, with SPU registering 52-percent first-half accuracy (17 of 33) and the Wildcats shooting 48 percent (14 of 29). Long-range shooting helped CWU keep contact as they made 6 of 10 attempts from 3-point range while SPU made just 3 in the same number of shots.
 
The Falcons owned an 18-14 rebounding lead at intermission.
 
"In that first half we had really good ball movement., it was a very balanced attack," said SPU coach Grant Leep. "Because of the shots that we were getting and the way in which we were attacking the paint, we had really good balance.
 
"The way in which our offense was helping our transition defense was really good and we had a nice rebounding advantage at the half. There were some things we did really well and we weren't able to sustain that."
 
SECOND-HALF SURGE
Five straight points by Moffitt to start the second half, on a fall-away jumper and trey, stretched SPU's three-point halftime margin to 43-35. That was the largest lead of the game for the visitors, who then saw Central reel off 12 unanswered points.
 
That spree ignited a decisive 19-2 run, capped by a layup from Gilson that provided the Wildcats with a 54-45 advantage with 14:55 remaining.
 
SPU closed within 60-57 on a three-point play by Moffitt, who was fouled on a successful free-throw line jump shot at 11:23.
 
Stafford responded with a left-corner 3-pointer for CWU for a 63-57 lead and the Falcons never managed to get closer than five points before Thompson inspired the Wildcats impressive game-closing run.
 
FALCONS FAST FACT
• Divant'e Moffitt closed the gap on teammate Harry Cavell on the school scoring chart. He ranks No. 8 among all-time Falcons with 1,434 career points while Cavell is No. 7 at 1,499.

UP NEXT
The SPU men begin post-season play next week in the GNAC Tournament. The basketball championships incorporate all 10 teams this season, necessitating an extra day of competition. Pairings for the tournament will be announced Sunday.
 
Saint Martin's serves as the primary host with four days of games at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash., from March 2-5. SPU's Brougham Pavilion will be the site of three men's games with one on Wednesday, March 2, at 4:15 p.m. and two on Thursday, March 3, at 5:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
 
A formula has been adopted to seed the teams, with the 7th vs. 10th seed and 8th vs. 9th meeting in first-round matchups, March 2, one in Seattle and the other in Lacey.
 
The Falcons are not guaranteed to play at home as they will be sent to Lacey if placed in the same half of the bracket as Saint Martin's.
 
"Obviously, we want to do everything we can to take advantage of the tournament and I truly believe that we have the capability to beat anybody in our conference," Leep said. "We need to find a way to consistently play to that level. This league is really good and every night is a different challenge. That's going to be no different in a tournament format.
 
"We're going to work hard this week to give ourselves the best chance to advance in this thing. We've got a group that is experienced, having won it a few years ago. Historically, SPU has a nice job in the conference tournament so hopefully we can get that going again in our favor."
 
Seattle Pacific claimed a record four GNAC Tournament titles, most recently winning in 2019. The Falcons captured three consecutive crowns, in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
 
RECORDS
Seattle Pacific 14-12, 7-8 GNAC
Central Washington 15-8, 9-7 GNAC
 
NEXT SPU GAME
Seattle Pacific at GNAC Tournament
March 2-5, 2021
Marcus Pavilion (Saint Martin's) or Brougham Pavilion (SPU)