SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team continues Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this weekend with a pair of road games. The Falcons take on Central Washington on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Ellensburg, Wash. before heading to Nampa, Idaho to play Northwest Nazarene on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. PST.
QUOTABLE
"Conference play is long and challenging," head coach
Keffrey Fazio said. "We're just trying to win the next one. Keep finding ways to improve. I'm proud of our guys and their approach each day and in practice to become better. We trust our process and that won't change."
GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
SPU's
Jaxon Nap earned his first career Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week award on Monday.
Nap was a beast on the boards last week, pulling down 23 total to help the Falcons win a pair of conference games. In a 97-86 triumph over Western Washington last Thursday, Nap made 6-of-7 field goals on his way to 19 points while adding eight rebounds and three assists. On Saturday in a 71-56 win over Simon Fraser, Nap grabbed 15 rebounds while adding nine points, four assists, and a pair of steals.
The 6-7 transfer from Montana shot 60.0% (9-for-15) while averaging 14.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Nap upped his season scoring average to 10.4 points per game, and the newcomer ranks second in the conference with 9.6 rebounds per game. Nap's field-goal percentage of 52.7 and ranks 10th in the conference.
THEY COULDN'T MISS
The SPU men's basketball team returned home to host Western Washington inside of a packed Royal Brougham Pavilion last Thursday night where the sharp-shooting Falcons beat the Vikings 97-86.
The Falcons shot the ball incredibly well against the Vikings. SPU shot 70.5 percent (31-for-44) for the game. That includes an 11-for-16 effort from 3-point range. Both came just shy of setting shooting percentage program records. The Falcons shot 71.2 percent (37-for-52) against BYU Hawaii on January 29, 2000. On Nov. 29, 2013, the Falcons shot 79.2 percent (19-for-24) from 3-point range against San Francisco State.
The Falcons finished the game with four players with 18 or more points.
Mason Landdeck finished with a season-high 21 points. He went 6-for-9 from the field, grabbed three rebounds, and had two assists in his best game as a Falcon.
Owen Moriarty scored 19 points on 6-for-9 shooting. He added five rebounds and two assists to his stat line. Nap scored 19 points on 6-for-7 shooting. He grabbed eight rebounds and tied
Henry Sandberg for a team-high three assists.
Jonas La Tour filled it up with 18 points and made all three of his 3-point attempts.
COMING THROUGH WHEN IT MATTERED
SPU led for the entire second half until the Vikings tied the game at 74 with 4:34 left to play. The Falcons answered with a 23-12 run down the stretch. They went 4-for-4 from the field, including three clutch 3-pointers. The Falcons went 12-for-14 from the free throw line to secure the victory.
Landdeck came through in a big way in the final three minutes against the Vikings. After a 3-pointer from Moriarty, Landdeck splashed home two 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put the Falcons up 85-76 with 2:09 left.
ANOTHER LATE RUN, ANOTHER W
The Falcons needed to grind one out against the Red Leafs last Saturday. That's exactly what they did. SPU hit 16 straight free throws as part of a game-breaking 21-9 scoring run to beat Simon Fraser 71-56.
An 18-point lead early in the second half had melted down to three at 50-47 with 8:01 still left in last Saturday's contest in Royal Brougham Pavilion.
But SPU kept the Red Leafs off the board for the next 4 minutes, and 37 seconds while racking up 10 straight points of its own, with six of those at the line: 4-for-4 by La Tour, 2-for-2 by Nap.
Among those 21 points that helped put the game out of reach, La Tour was 8-for-8 and Landdeck was 6-for-6. For the game, SPU was a near-perfect 21 of 22 (95.5 percent) on free throws, with La Tour winding up at 9-for-9.
The Falcon defense locked down the Red Leafs during that stretch. SFU went 1-for-10 over the final eight minutes of the first half.
FINDING THEIR FORM
With a handful of conference games played, the Falcons are finding their team's identity. They're shooting 48 percent from the field, the second-best mark in the conference behind Central Washington. The Falcons are making 75.8 percent of their free throw attempts. It's good enough for third best in conference. They've also emerged as one of the better rebounding teams in the conference. SPU's 36.6 rebounds per game is fourth most in the GNAC.
ABOUT CENTRAL WASHINGTON
The Wildcats were picked as the favorites in this year's GNAC preseason coaches poll. They tied for third last year with a 22-10 overall record while going 11-7 in league play. The Wildcats won the GNAC tournament on their home floor and advanced to the NCAA West Regionals before their season ended in the second round. Jordan Clark (7.3 ppg) and Maverick Sanders (8.1 ppg) are the team's top. CWU is 10-5 with a 4-1 record in GNAC play so far this season.
ABOUT NORTHWEST NAZARENE
The Nighthawks finished third in the GNAC preseason coaches poll. They went 17-10 overall last year and finished second in the GNAC standings at 13-5. Key returning names for NNU include seniors Ryzin Bergersen and Aaron Murphy who averaged 13.0 points and 10.1 points, respectively. The Nighthawks are 11-2 in 2024-25, with a 4-1 GNAC record. NNU has received votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches National Poll.
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