Men's Basketball | 1/29/2009 9:42:28 AM

Box Score Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Seattle Pacific scored on eight of its first nine possessions and matched its season average by shooting 52.1 percent from the floor to defeat Western Oregon 96-70, Thursday, Jan. 29.

The win kept the Falcons atop the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with a 5-1 record. The loss was the fifth straight for the Wolves as they dropped to 1-5 in league play.

Chris Banchero scored a game-high 24 points as Rafael Moreira added 20 points on nine-of-nine shooting and eight rebounds to lead Seattle Pacific. Travis Kuhns led the Wolves with 20 points and eight rebounds.

Seattle Pacific outrebounded Western Oregon 44 to 31 and used this advantage to dominate the paint with a 60 to 34 scoring advantage. SPU all had 14 assists to nine turnovers, including just three at halftime. The Wolves committed 14 turnovers in the game in which the Falcons converted into 27 points.

Seattle Pacific had a different starter score each of its first five baskets jumped out to a 17-8 lead. The Wolves cut the lead to 17-12 but the Falcons then went on a 22-7 run to take a commanding 39-19 advantage and go into the locker room up 52-33. The 52 points in the half were the most points Western Oregon had yielded in the first half this season and the 96 was the most they have given up in a game.

"Seattle Pacific is a good offensively executing basketball team and we didn't slow them down tonight," said Western Oregon head coach Craig Stanger. "We need to have a better defensive mindset. We reacted to what they were doing and you can't do that against a team like Seattle Pacific."

The Western Oregon men's basketball team will be in Lacey, Wash., Saturday, Jan. 31, when it faces Saint Martin's at 7:00 p.m. The Wolves and Saints have split their two games this season, both in Monmouth. Saint Martin's won the first game 93-89 to capture the WOU/Phoenix Inn D2 Shootout (Nov. 22) and Western Oregon won the rematch 83-74 its GNAC season-opener (Jan. 10).