ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team had its three-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday night on the road against Central Washington University, where the Falcons went cold in the second half before falling 82-61 to the Wildcats.
The Falcons shot the ball well in the first half. They went 14-for-21 (66.7 percent) from the field and knocked down three of their five 3-point attempts. SPU received a boost from their bench, as the Falcon reserves outscored the Wildcat reserves 18-0.
Trace Evans,
Henry Sandberg, and
Julian Mora combined all 18 points.
The efficient shooting kept the Falcons in the game. The Wildcats shot 46.4 percent in the opening 20 minutes but made five 3-pointers and all four free throws. The first half featured five ties and five lead changes. SPU trailed 35-34 at the end of the first half.
Jaxon Nap put together a strong first half for the Falcons. He scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field. Evans returned to the Falcons after missing a few games. He came off the bench and immediately impacted in the first half. He scored nine points while shooting 4-for-5 in nine minutes of play.
The Wildcats gained their advantage coming out of halftime. CWU went on a 24-11 run over the first eight minutes of the second half. The Wildcats went 9-for-13 from the field during the run, including three 3-pointers. SPU trailed 59-46 after the run.
The Falcons responded with a quick 6-0 run to cut the lead to seven points. SPU did not close the gap any further and fell 82-61.
"We did not stick to the game plan," head coach
Keffrey Fazio said. "We need to do a better job of controlling the tempo of the game. We were rushing possessions and let things get away from us."
Nap led the Falcons with 19 points on an efficient 75 percent from the field. He went 7-for-10 from the free throw line. Nap secured nine rebounds. Evans had 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting with three rebounds and a team-high three assists. Sandberg scored eight points while going 3-for-4 from the field. He added three rebounds and an assist to his stat line.
The Falcons play again on Saturday. They'll take on Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. PST.
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