SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball hosted San Marcos on Tuesday afternoon in their final game before the holiday break, as a great defensive effort, along with a record-setting performance from Shaw Anderson led the Falcons to their fourth consecutive win by a score of 73-66.

The Falcons dug in defensively against the Cougars on Tuesday. SPU held CSUSM under 70 points and had them at 40.9 percent (27-for-66) from the field. The Falcons kept the Cougars off the free throw line, as they only had five attempts for the game.

San Marcos did gain an advantage on the glass, pulling down 35 rebounds to just 25 from SPU. Still, the Falcons allowed just nine second-chance points on their way to victory.

"It was our best, defensive, gritty win we've had all season," interim head coach Keffrey Fazio said. "San Marcos is a really challenging team to play. The defense was going to be key for us tonight. We gave up a few too many offensive rebounds, but we were able to overcome that."

The Falcons closed out the final 7:21 of the first half on a 15-9 run, powered by 10 points from Anderson. The Falcons went 4-for-5 during the run while holding the Cougars to 4-for-13 from the field. SPU held a 34-28 lead at halftime.

SPU needed one more burst in the second half. Anderson tied the game at 44 with a layup with 12:24 left to play. That basket started a 16-8 run that lasted 5:54. Anderson scored six points, while Kyle Luttinen and Trace Evans had five points each. San Marcos went 3-for-8 during the run. SPU led 58-62 with just under seven minutes to play.

Free throws played a massive role in deciding the game. Shaw Anderson went 16-for-16 from the free throw line. It was the best single-game free-throw shooting performance in program history. His 16 made free throws are now the most in a single game without a miss.

Anderson's perfection ties and bests Loren Anderson's 14-for-14 effort against Saint Martin's on Feb. 22, 1958. David Downs also went 14-for-14 from the free throw line. It happened against Montana State University Billings on Feb. 18, 2012.

Luttinen and Evans supported Anderson well. Luttinen scored 14 points while going 4-for-5 from 3-point range. Evans scored 13 points on 6-for-6 shooting with three rebounds and two blocks. The big man from down under had to shut down Charlie Henderson, who scored just eight points. Maui Sze dished out seven of the Falcon's 10 assists.

"Kyle played really well tonight," Fazio added. "Guys like Maui, Owen, and Theo did a great job of making San Marcos do what we wanted them to do. Our effort was great. This game right before the break can be challenging. For us to be able to muster up whatever it took to get the win is something we're really proud of."  

It'll be 16 days before the Falcons return to game action. They'll travel to Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 4. For a 6:30 p.m. PST game that restarts Great Northwest Athletic Conference Play.  

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