SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team restarts Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this weekend with road games at Northwest Nazarene on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. PST and Central Washington on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. 

QUOTABLE
"Our conference is challenging from top to bottom. I feel like our conference has the most parity of the west region. It'll be important for us to continue to defend the way we have the last few games. We start on the road and need to be resilient together and opportunistic. Winning on the road in our conference is hard, but I like where our guys are at. I like how our practices have over break. I think we're ready for this next stage of our journey." – interim head coach Keffrey Fazio

LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons wrapped up non-conference play with games against Linfield and San Marcos two weeks ago. SPU took down the Wildcats 74-50 on Dec. 16 before defeating the Cougars 73-66 on Dec. 19. Shaw Anderson led the Falcons with two 30-point performances in the victories. 

Anderson poured in 23 points on 10-for-12 shooting, including two made 3-pointers in the first half against the Wildcats. He finished the game with 31 points on 12-for-19 shooting with three rebounds and two assists. 

Owen Moriarty and Trace Evans finished with 12 points each. Both players went 5-for-8 from the field. Moriarty added four assists and two rebounds, while Evans had four rebounds and an assist.

The Falcons did well near the basket, scoring 28 points in the paint. Defensively, they forced the Wildcats into 12 turnovers and scored 14 points off turnovers. The Falcons shut the visitors down to a 32.8 shooting percentage (20-for-61) with just five made 3-pointers in the game.

The Falcons dug in defensively against the Cougars on Dec. 19. 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.

Anderson led the Falcons with 30 points on 7-for-13 shooting. He added four rebounds and an assist to his totals. Kyle 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. Maui Sze dished out seven of the Falcon's 10 assists.

ANOTHER HISTORIC PERFORMANCE 
Shaw Anderson has spent the 2023-24 season putting his name amongst the greats in program history. He currently ranks fifth in all-time scoring with 1,626 career points. He had another historic performance against San Marcos. 

Anderson went 16-for-16 from the free throw line against the Cougars. 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.

ABOUT NORTHWEST NAZARENE
The Nighthawks were picked to finish second in the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll and received one first-place vote. They join Saint Martin's as the only teams to receive a first-place vote. NNU is coming off a year where they made the GNAC Tournament as the sixth seed. They upset the field, won the tournament, and claimed the conference's automatic bid. 

NNU big man Gabriel Murphy was named to the Preseason All-Conference Team unanimously after being a Second Team All-GNAC selection in 2022-23. Murphy ranked second in the GNAC last year with 8.2 rebounds per game while scoring 11.6 points per game. Two-time Honorable Mention All-Conference selection Tru Allen also earned Preseason All-Conference honors, after averaging 12.1 points per game last year.

The Nighthawks are 6-4 and 2-0 in conference play this season. NNU beat Saint Martin's 80-79 in overtime in Lacey, Wash. on Nov. 30. They followed it with a 65-62 victory over Western Oregon. They're averaging 75 points per game while holding opponents to 67.4 points per game. 

ABOUT CENTRAL WASHINGTON
The Wildcats were slated third in the preseason poll a season after tying for third place with a conference record of 9-9 in 2022-23. CWU was represented on the Preseason All-Conference team by Camron McNeil and Samaad Hector. Both were Honorable Mention All-Conference picks in 2022-23, with McNeil ranking fourth in the league in scoring at 15.6 points per game. Hector meanwhile chipped in a steady 11.7 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game.

The Wildcats are off to a strong start in 2023-24, touting an 8-3 record. They're led by an offense that's averaging 80.5 points per game. They've also held teams to 67.8 points per game. 

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