SEATTLE – The red-hot Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team takes its seven-game winning streak on the road to Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene this weekend. The Falcons open the weekend against the Wildcats on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. followed by a game against the Nighthawks on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. PST
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"It was great for us to have three in a row at home," head coach Grant Leep said. "We head into the second half of conference play in a good spot. This team has more room to grow, and we need to focus on that. We've had good intensity at practice, and we are continuing to improve and get better. It's important to carry over the improvements we've made defensively and take them with us on the road. We take on two more talented, well-coached teams, and it's hard to win on the road in the GNAC. I'm excited to see how our team responds to the challenges the CWU and NNU bring."
GNAC TEAM OF THE WEEK
After taking down opponents ranked inside the top 25 in the country in consecutive games, the SPU men's basketball team was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Team of the Week.
Most recently, the Falcons have knocked off teams ranked inside the top 25 in Saint Martin's and Montana State University Billings. Last Saturday, the Falcons handed the Yellowjackets their first loss in conference play by a score of 72-59.
The Falcons opened Saturday's contest with a 14-2 run that lasted 5:08. Shaw Anderson scored the first five points of the game before capping the run with a layup. Kelton Samore scored five points during that stretch, while Zack Paulsen dished out two assists.
Anderson led the Falcons with 15 points while going 6-for-11 from the field. He had three rebounds and three assists for SPU. Paulsen and Rouse finished with 10 points each. Paulsen pulled down seven rebounds and had two assists, while Rouse went 2-for-3 from 3-point range. Maui Sze, Syon Blackmon, and Samore scored nine points each in a well-rounded performance from the Falcons.
The Falcons are 8-1 against GNAC opponents through the first half of the conference schedule. They've scored 90 or more points in four of their seven consecutive wins.
SHOOTING IT WELL, REALLY WELL!
The Falcons enter the weekend as the best shooting team in the country. They lead everyone by shooting 53.3 percent from the field. They rank second in the nation from the 3-point range, hitting 43.2 percent from deep. The team averages 84.5 points per game, tying them for 18th in the country.
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
SPU takes care of the basketball, landing inside the top 25 in the assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.39. The mark puts them at 23rd in the country entering the game. The Falcons share the ball, averaging 16.5 assists per game, good enough for 28th in the nation.
ALL OVER THE GNAC LEADERBOARDS
The Falcons' offensive identity has been taking and making good shots. The Falcons have six players inside the top 30 in the conference in shooting percentage from the field. They have five players inside the top 20 in a 3-point field goal percentage.
INDIVIDUAL STANDOUTS
Anderson continues to lead the GNAC in scoring, averaging 20.2 points per game. The next-closest player is Carrington Wiggins of MSUB, who is scoring 17.7 points per game. Anderson ranks seventh in the conference in field goal percentage at 56.4 percent. He also ranks eighth in the conference in 3-point shooting at 45.1 percent. Anderson leads the league in minutes played at 33.6 minutes per game.
Paulsen joins Anderson inside the top 10 in scoring in the conference. He's averaging 13.2 points per game (13th in the conference) on 51.1 shooting from the field. Paulsen is third in the conference in free throw percentage, hitting 88.9 percent. He follows Anderson in minutes played with 33.1 per game, good enough for second in the league.
Samore is having an excellent season for the Falcons, scoring 10.8 points per game while leading the conference in shooting percentage at 68.5.
Sze has turned into one of the best guards in the conference. He's hitting 50 percent of his 3-point attempts, third-best in the conference. He's averaging 1.6 3-pointers made per game. Sze ranks eighth in assists with 3.2 per game. His assists-to-turnover ratio is excellent, running a ratio of 2.6 per game.
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS (8-10, 4-5 GNAC)
After a slow start to the 2022-23 season, the Wildcats have caught fire over the past two weeks. They'll enter the weekend riding a four-game winning streak. Most recently, the team took down Western Washington and Simon Fraser on the road. The Wildcats are in a four-way tie for fourth place in the conference at the midway point of the GNAC schedule.
Like the Falcons, the Wildcats shoot the ball well. They rank second in the conference in shooting percentage at 48.7 percent. CWU defends well, as teams are shooting just 33.8 percent from 3-point range, and block 3.5 points per game. Both marks are third best in the conference.
Cameron McNeil is the top scorer for the Wildcats. He'll enter the weekend scoring 14.4 points per game. Matt Poquette is having a nice year offensively as well, sitting just outside the top 10 with 12.6 points per game. The offense flows through Brock Gilbert, who leads the conference with 6.8 assists per game.
Poquette is one of the best rebounders in the league, averaging 6.8 per game. Hector Samaad can grab boards well, averaging 6.3 points per game.
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS (7-10, 4-5 GNAC)
The Nighthawks are one of the four teams in a tie for fourth place in the conference. They're coming off a 78-60 loss to Western Washington last Saturday. Before the Falcons visit on Saturday, the Nighthawks host MSUB on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. PST.
NNU struggles to score, averaging 65.5 points per game, the lowest total in the conference. The Nighthawks excel on the offensive glass, leading the league with 13.2 offensive rebounds per game. They are a team that tries to force turnovers, averaging the second most steals in the conference at 8.2 per game.
Tru Allen leads the group with 12.9 points per game. Kobe Terashima has the fifth most assists per game in the conference with four. Gabriel Murphy is the best rebounder in the conference, pulling down 9.1 boards per game. Murphy also takes and makes high-percentage shots. He slots into sixth in the conference by making 57.5 percent of his attempts.
