SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball has the chance to secure its spot in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament this weekend in Alaska. The Falcons travel to The Last Frontier to play Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday and Alaska Anchorage on Saturday. Both games start at 8:30 p.m. PST.
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"We got to keep our heads down and finish," head coach Keffrey Fazio said. "We had a nice run that gave us a great opportunity to potentially advance to the conference tournament, but right now, we're focused on Fairbanks and doing whatever we can to win. The season is long, and everybody is battling until the end. It's really important to keep your aim small at this point of the season."
THE GNAC STANDINGS
GNAC teams are entering the final stretch of the regular season with two weeks left to play. The only team that's clinched their spot in the tournament is Central Washington. The Falcons can become the second team when they reach 11 GNAC wins. They enter the weekend in second place in the standings and are 10-5 in conference play.
GNAC teams are playing for a spot in the GNAC Tournament on March 6-8 at Saint Martin's in Lacey, Wash. The top six teams in the GNAC standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the GNAC Tournament. The top two seeds earn byes to the semifinal round. The quarterfinal round will match the Nos. 3 and 6 seeds in one game and the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds in the other game. Quarterfinal winners will advance to Friday's semifinals. Semifinal winners will meet on Saturday for the championship.
GNAC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
The GNAC announced its Men's Basketball All-Academic team on Wednesday morning, featuring seven Seattle Pacific University student-athletes, the most of any school in the conference.
The Falcons made up seven of the 25 selections to the GNAC All-Academic Team. Trace Evans is one of five players earning honors for the second time. Logan Kinloch touts the highest grade point average on the GNAC All-Academic Team. Kinloch owns a 3.97 while studying business administration.
A BIG NIGHT ON THE GLASS
The Falcons extended their season-best seven-game winning streak last Thursday with a 72-62 victory over Northwest Nazarene. SPU's rebounding played a pivotal role in Thursday's game. The Falcons outrebounded the Nighthawks 33-20 and turned six offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points.
The rebounding advantage was paired with a balanced scoring effort. Five Falcons finished in double-figures, led by 20 points from Mason Landdeck on a 7-for-14 shooting performance. Landdeck also led the team with four assists.
Nap was a rebound away from a double-double. He was the second-leading scorer for the Falcons with 16 points, nine rebounds, and three assists. Moriarty finished with 12 points, including two 3-pointers. La Tour had 11 points with three 3-pointers. Evans finished with 10 points and picked up his 400th career rebound with the Falcons.
DOWN TO THE FINAL BUZZER
SPU's seven-game winning streak came to an end last Saturday when the Falcons were outlasted by the Wildcats, 68-66. The Falcons had their final possession against the Wildcats with 14 seconds left. CWU knocked the ball out of bounds with 1.1 seconds left. Landdeck scanned the floor to inbound the ball. He found Grant Coleman on the wing. It was the same connection that gave the Falcons a last-second 64-63 win over Western Washington on Feb. 8. This time, Coleman's 3-point try was long, and the Wildcats escaped Seattle with the win.
Nap led the Falcons with 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting. He added 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Landdeck had a strong offensive night as well. He scored 17 points and went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. Landdeck had four rebounds and two assists.
Evans finished his senior day with 13 points, six rebounds, and a team-high four assists. Owen Moriarty scored 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting, and six rebounds.
ABOUT ALASKA FAIRBANKS
The Nanooks enter the weekend as the first team out of the GNAC Tournament. UAF is 10-13 overall with a 6-8 GNAC record. The Falcons and Nanooks played a thrilling game in Seattle on Jan. 25. Moriarty made the game-winning shot with 20 seconds left to give the team a 56-54 victory. Nap secured his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He added a team-high three assists to his stellar night. Evans tied Nap with three assists. La Tour added 13 points with three made 3-pointers. Moriarty added 11 points and made all three of his free throw attempts. Moriarty added five rebounds and two assists.
ABOUT ALASKA ANCHORAGE
The Seawolves own an 11-16 overall record and are 4-10 in conference play. The Falcons and Seawolves met in Seattle on Jan, 23. SPU began its seven-game winning streak with a 64-60 win over UAA. Four Falcons scored in double-figures in that game against the Seawolves. Landdeck was tremendous, scoring a game-high 19 points. Moriarty and Jonas La Tour scored 11 points each. Moriarty was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. La Tour hit two 3-pointers and grabbed two rebounds. Evans finished with 10 points. He went 5-for-7 from the field with five rebounds and a team-high three assists.
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