CHICO, Calif. – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball closed out its time at the CCAA Crossover on Saturday night against #22 Chico State, as a second-half push from the home team downed the Falcons 70-56.

"I'm very proud of our teams effort tonight," Interim Head Coach Keffery Fazio said. "I thought we showed a lot of guts. Chico is a very good basketball team. They're one of the top teams in the region. It shows that our team is capable of playing with anybody. We went toe to toe with them for most of the game in their home gym."

The Falcons opened the first three minutes of the second half on fire. They went on a 9-2 run powered by four points from Jadin Penigar, a three from Kyle Luttinen, and a bucket from Shaw Anderson. SPU led 34-28 with 16:28 remaining in the game.

Over the next 10:14, the Wildcats pulled away from the Falcons. Chico outscored SPU 26-11 on 10-for-16 shooting that included just one 3-pointer. Ethan Oliver led the run with 12 points. The Wildcats made it happen defensively, picking up four steals during that swing.

SPU trailed 54-46 with 6:03 to play in the game. Anderson scored six consecutive points for the Falcons, but it didn't pull the team much closer. The Wildcats maintained the gap created by their big run and went on to take the game.

SPU didn't find a rhythm offensively against Chico. The Falcons went 19-for-49 (38.8 percent) from the field. They hit three 3-pointers for the game and shot 71.4 percent from the free throw line. The Wildcats forced the Falcons into 15 turnovers as well.

Trace Evans was excellent for the Falcons throughout the game. He scored 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting while pulling down 13 rebounds. The big man added four assists to his first double-double of the season for a stellar night.

Anderson led all scorers with 17 points for the Falcons. Luttinen and Penigar added nine points each.

"Ultimately, they made more plays than us down the stretch," Fazio said. We will continue to get better, and hope to see those guys again down the road."

SPU hosts next weekend's PacWest/GNAC Challenge featuring the Falcons, Azusa Pacific, Concordia Irvine, and Western Washington. CUI and WWU play on Friday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. followed by SPU and APU at 7:15 p.m.