Men's Basketball | 3/6/2014 9:30:00 PM

Box Score

LACEY, Wash. – The No. 18 Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team ended fifth-seeded Western Oregon University's season with a 73-57 victory in the semifinals of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament Thursday.

The top-seeded Falcons (25-5) controlled the tempo of the game, leading for the final 36 minutes. SPU made 46 percent of its shots from the field, while holding the Wolves to 38 percent. Seattle Pacific, also ranked fourth in the West Region, had a 35-26 rebound advantage. The Falcons advance to the GNAC tournament championship game against second-seeded Western Washington Saturday at 5:15 p.m. It will be a rematch of the 2013 final SPU won at the buzzer.

Patrick Simon led all scorers with 20 points. The senior made six of his 12 attempts from the field, including 4-of-8 from behind-the-perimeter. Conference Player of the Year David Downs added 18 points and a game-high five assists. Mitch Penner and Riley Stockton chipped in 11 and 10 points.

The game's five ties and one lead change occurred in the first five minutes. A Devon Alexander with 11:46 left in the first half tied the score at 11. The Falcons then went on an 11-0 run over a four-minute span. WOU never recovered. SPU stretched the margin to 17 points with 4:33 remaining in the half, before taking a 42-27 lead into halftime.

The Falcons shot 62.5 percent from the field in the opening half, while WOU made 46 percent. SPU outrebounded Western Oregon, 14-7, in the half.

Seattle Pacific scored 12 of the first 15 points in the second half to take its largest lead of the game, 54-30, with 15:05 remaining in regulation. The Wolves closed within 13 points with 7:56 remaining, but would come no closer. Western Oregon committed five of its 12 turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Alexander led Western Oregon (18-12) with 15 points. The sophomore made 5-of-12 from the field. Lewis Thomas added 10 points. Andy Avgi grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

After making a tournament-record 13 three-pointers in the opening round victory over fourth-seeded Alaska Anchorage a night earlier, WOU was held to 5-of-17 from behind-the-arc. Seattle Pacific was 5-for-19 from three-point range. Both teams missed four free throws as Western Oregon made 14 and SPU made 18.

Seattle Pacific won two of the three meetings against WOU this season. The Wolves won the first meeting in Monmouth over then-ranked No. 14 SPU, 74-70. The Falcons won the matchup in Seattle, 79-47, on Feb. 1. It was the second time the teams met in the GNAC tournament. Third-seeded Seattle Pacific defeated sixth-seeded Western Oregon by four points in the quarterfinals of the 2011 tournament.

The Wolves played in their first GNAC tournament semifinal, and finished their season after winning their first postseason men's basketball game since 1999. It was also the first since the school moved to NCAA play. Western Oregon reached 10 wins in GNAC play for only the fourth time in program history, and only the second time in the past nine years.

Newspaper Box Score
Western Oregon vs Seattle Pacific
03/06/14 7:30 pm at Marcus Pavilion - Lacey, WA
At Marcus Pavilion - Lacey, WA
SEATTLE PACIFIC 73, WESTERN OREGON 57
WESTERN OREGON (18-12)
Alexander,Devon 5-12 4-4 15; Thomas,Lewis 4-9 0-0 10; Webster,Rodney 3-11
2-6 9; Sarhan,Marwan 2-5 4-4 8; Wiley,Jordan 0-5 4-4 4; Avgi,Andy 2-3 0-0 4;
Schriber,Jordan 2-3 0-0 4; Johnson,Drew 1-2 0-0 3; Holbrook,Eric 0-0 0-0 0;
DupreeTurner,Dezmond 0-0 0-0 0; Hastings,Adam 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 14-18
57.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (25-5)
Simon,Patrick 6-12 4-4 20; Downs,David 6-13 6-6 18; Penner,Mitch 5-7 1-2 11;
Stockton,Riley 4-6 1-2 10; Carroll,Brendan 2-6 2-2 6; Borton,Matt 1-4 4-6 6;
Hutsen,Cory 1-5 0-0 2; Rasmussen,Joe 0-0 0-0 0; Todd,Ryan 0-0 0-0 0;
Jordan,Josh 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 18-22 73.
Western Oregon................   27   30  -   57
Seattle Pacific...............   42   31  -   73
3-point goals--Western Oregon 5-17 (Thomas,Lewis 2-4; Webster,Rodney 1-3;
Alexander,Devon 1-4; Johnson,Drew 1-2; Wiley,Jordan 0-4), Seattle Pacific
5-19 (Simon,Patrick 4-8; Stockton,Riley 1-2; Penner,Mitch 0-1;
Carroll,Brendan 0-2; Borton,Matt 0-3; Downs,David 0-3). Fouled out--Western
Oregon-None, Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds--Western Oregon 26 (Avgi,Andy
8), Seattle Pacific 35 (Borton,Matt 7). Assists--Western Oregon 6
(Webster,Rodney 3), Seattle Pacific 12 (Downs,David 5). Total fouls--Western
Oregon 20, Seattle Pacific 16. Technical fouls--Western Oregon-None, Seattle
Pacific-None. A-529
Seattle Pacific ranked #18 in National NCAA Divsion II