Men's Basketball | 1/14/2010 9:41:02 PM

Box Score [Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Chris Banchero's layup as time expired helped No. 15 Seattle Pacific avoid the upset, 79-77, and spoiled a valiant comeback effort by the Western Oregon men's basketball team, Thursday, Jan. 14.

The Falcons' last-second victory moved them to 3-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference play and to 12-2 on the season. The loss was the Wolves' fifth in their last six games, as they fell to 7-7 and 0-3 in conference.

Western Oregon was able to overcome a nine-point deficit (72-63) with 2:32 remaining to set up the chance to go to overtime. Freshman Tarance Glynn was fouled with 1.9 seconds left, sending him to the free throw line for two shots with a chance to tie. Glynn, who shoots 67-percent from the line on the season, calmly sunk both shots. Immediately after Glynn's second shot went through the hoop, SPU grabbed the ball and made a perfect pass under-the-shoulder to Banchero in full stride for the game-winning layup.

"Seattle Pacific has some good players that made plays when they needed to," said Western Oregon head coach Craig Stanger.

Blair Wheadon led WOU with a season-best 24 points. He was 9-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point range, and also added three assists and three steals. Glynn gave the Wolves a lift off the bench with his 14 points, going 4-of-5 from the floor and 4-of-4 at the line. Kolton Nelson also chipped in with 11.

Banchero paced the Falcons with 17 points, including 13 after the half. Brandon Larrieu added 16, while Rafael Moreira contributed 14.

Matt Schmidt scored all nine of his points in the final 3:34 to fuel WOU's comeback effort. He had nine of the Wolves' final 16 points, as he went 4-of-5 from the floor in the final minutes and helped the Wolves outscore the Falcons 14-7 during that stretch. WOU's defense also stepped up in the late stages of the game, as it forced two turnovers and held SPU without a field goal for two-and-a-half minutes until the game-winner.

"Our defense stepped up and controlled the ball at end," Stanger noted. "The last 10 minutes of the game we settled down, took much better shots and did not turn the ball over: all of which helped us set up our defense."

Wheadon was also impressed with the team's effort in the final 10 minutes. "We need to play the whole game like we did that final 10 minutes," commented Wheadon.

Western Oregon was down 11 at the half (45-34) and by as many as 15 in the second period but managed to shoot 50-percent from the field (16-of-32) and 54.5-percent from behind the arc to get back in the game.

"It was a good overall effort by our guys, especially the young ones," continued Stanger. "They fought hard, and it goes to show that if you play hard, you give yourself a chance at the end."

The Western Oregon men's basketball team will look to end its three-game GNAC slide against Northwest Nazarene Saturday, Jan. 16th, at 2:00 p.m.