BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team received standout performances from
Shaw Anderson ,
Kyle Luttinen and
Nikias Schoenerstedt, but turnovers and rebounding proved costly against Western Washington as the Falcons fell 80-76 to the Vikings on their home floor.
"We needed to find a way to get more stops," interim head coach
Keffrey Fazio said. "I'm proud of the way our guys fought, especially on the road. We'll learn from tonight and be ready for Saturday's game against Simon Fraser."
Thursday's match up between the Falcons and the Vikings put two of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's best players against each other. SPU's
Shaw Anderson entered the game second in the conference in scoring, trailing WWU's Kai Johnson. Anderson made it a point, at times, to prove he's the best player in the conference.
Anderson finished the game with a game-high 32 points on 14-for-22 shooting. He went 2-for-3 from 3-point range while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out four assists. He outscored Johnson by 11 points and had three more assists by the end of the game.
The Falcons were hindered by turnovers against the Vikings. SPU turned it over 13 times to just five from the WWU. The Vikings scored 18 points off turnovers.
The Vikings took advantage of the offensive glass. The home team grabbed 16 offensive rebounds to 10 offensive rebounds from the Falcons. WWU scored 27 second-chance points to 12 second-chance points from SPU.
Luttinen and Schoenerstedt provided plenty of offense for the Falcons on Thursday night. Luttinen scored 14 points, making four 3-pointers against the Vikings. Schoenerstedt scored 10 points while adding five rebounds and three assists. He chalked career-highs in points, rebounds, and assists.
The Falcons go north of the border on Saturday for a game against Simon Fraser that tips off at 7 p.m.
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