SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team withstood an outstanding effort from Simon Fraser on Saturday at Royal Brougham Pavilion, as the Falcons outlasted the Red Leafs in overtime 82-78.
The Falcons needed big plays on both ends of the floor throughout Saturday's contest. The game featured 14 ties and 17 lead changes. The final tie of the game came off a jumper from Zack Stone that knotted the score at 78 with 45 seconds to play.
A timeout from SPU allowed head coach Grant Leep to draw up the play he wanted. After inbounding Syon Blackmon had the ball on the right wing. Zack Paulsen flashed to the high post and received a pass from Blackmon.
As Paulsen caught the ball, he noticed Shaw Anderson being fronted in the low post. Paulsen put a pass where only Anderson could get to it. Anderson caught the ball in wide open space, where he'd go up for what would be the game-winning dunk.
The Falcons stopped the Ref Leafs in their final attempt to tie the game. Blackmon pulled down the defensive rebound and would ice the game by making two free throws.
"I credit our guys for staying with it," Leep said. "They found ways to continually execute in that overtime period after Simon Fraser had made it so difficult for us throughout the game. I thought we started to finally get our flow and rhythm back on offense, and that was because we started to tighten up on defense. They had been hurting us on drives into the lane, we finally closed those off and made them shoot more jump shots. That's a good team. They've been competing and have been in so many close ones over their last few games. We needed this kind of game to start the process of getting us out of that little rut we were in."
The Falcons were excellent in overtime. After a 3-pointer from the Red Leafs, SPU ripped off an 11-4 run over the final 4:14 of the game. Blackmon led the way with five points during that stretch of what proved to be a big day for Sammamish Native. Blackmon led the Falcons with 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting. He pulled eight rebounds and had three assists with stellar defense throughout the game.
"I loved how aggressive Syon was," Leep said. "Several tips and deflections he had saved transition points for us. He's been doing that stuff all year for us. It was great to see him take the reigns of our defense. When he's locked in on that, his effort inspires everyone on the court."
Paulsen was incredibly efficient, scoring 17 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including three 3-pointers. He led everyone with 11 rebounds and had four assists.
Away from the stat sheet, Paulsen made a massive play on the defensive end. The Red Leafs had a chance to win it with what would be the final good look of the game. Paulsen drew an offensive foul, turning the ball over to the Falcons with three seconds left.
"The way Zack battled for us tonight was great," Leep added. "The way he rebounded, got through screens, and made some big threes for us were all things we needed. It was good to see him get back in rhythm on offense."
Up next for the Falcons is a short trip south on I-5 leading to a game against Saint Martin's in Lacey, Wash. at 7:30 p.m.