LANGLEY, B.C. – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team opened its season at the Canadian Tip-Off Classic on Friday morning as the Falcons had to put together a furious comeback in the second half but ran out of time as they fell 77-72 to St. Edward's.

"I am certainly proud of our togetherness and how we responded," Interim Head Coach Keffrey Fazio said. "St. Edward's a good basketball team. Our guys showed a lot of character as they climbed back into the game. We still need to be better. Lots of things to learn and improve on. We talk about process over outcome a lot in our program. We will stick to our process, and we will keep getting better." 

Things got away from the Falcons five minutes into the first half. The Hilltoppers went on a 22-4 run that lasted 7:05. The team from Texas went 8-for-12 from the field and hit three 3-pointers during the run. They led 33-16 at the end of that span. SPU trailed 46-32 at the break.

The Falcons answered immediately after halftime. They went on a 16-9 run that featured six points from Shaw Anderson, while Trace Evens and Own Moriarty poured in five points each. Still, the Hilltoppers led 55-45 with 14:57 left in the game.

At the 8:38 mark, SPU was down 64-55. Again, the Falcons went on a run to get back in the game. They outscored the Hilltoppers 14-6 over the next 5:36. Anderson was the catalyst, scoring eight points during that time. Methodically, the Hilltopper lead had been cut to three with 3:16 left in the game.

Anderson splashed home a 3-pointer with 1:11 to play that moved the score to 74-72. That's as close as the Falcons would get, as the Hilltoppers closed the game out with free throws.

Anderson scored a game-high 27 points in Friday's season-opener. He went 9-for-15 from the field and 4-for-7 from 3-point range. Anderson added five rebounds, an assist, and a block to his stat line. 

Anderson's 27 points from Friday's game moves his career total to 1,334. He's now tied for 10th all-time with Cory Hutsen (2012-2015).

Evans and Moriarty joined Anderson in double digits on Friday. Evans scored 13 points with seven rebounds and two assists. Moriarty had 11 points and five rebounds in his debut with the Falcons. 

SPU is back on the court on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. They'll face Hawaii Hilo on day two of the DII Canadian Tip-Off Classic.