Jan. 13, 2007
Box Score
SEATTLE, Wash. - Guard Dustin Bremerman scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the second half as Seattle Pacific University defeated Western Washington University, 80-65, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game Saturday at Royal Brougham Pavilion.
Forward Lukas Henne (Sr., Bremerton/Central Kitsap) scored 22 points for Western, which fell to 8-6 overall and 2-2 in the GNAC. Forward Calin Schell (So., Chelan) added 12 points, all in the first half.
Seattle Pacific, the defending GNAC and West Region champion, improved to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in conference play with its sixth win in the last seven games. Center Robbie Will had 18 points and game-highs of nine rebounds and four blocked shots for the Falcons, who are 7-0 at home this season.
The Vikings used a 9-1 run to take a 49-48 advantage on an 8-footer by Henne with 10:49 left, but it was the last Western lead.
Seattle Pacific responded with eight straight points to take a 56-49 advantage. Western rallied briefly with a free throw by guard Ira Graham (So., Fontana) and a 3-pointer by Henne, but the Falcons then ran off 10 straight points, eight of them by Bremerman, to go up 66-53 with 5:13 left. Six of those points came on free throws and Bremerman was 12-of-12 at the line for the game.
Western got no closer than 10 points after that.
Graham had 11 points for the Vikings, who shot just 38.3 percent (23-of-60) from the field after shooting 56.3 percent in a victory at Seattle U. on Thursday.
"We fought hard, the second half was just a matter of execution more than anything else," said Western coach Brad Jackson. "We played extremely well on defense, but just broke down on offense a little bit. Playing here at SPU and winning is very difficult. We can't get too down or too discouraged."
The Vikings jumped to a 6-1 lead to start the game, but Seattle Pacific rallied to take an 11-9 advantage. The score was tied six times in the first half, and the Falcons held a 33-31 edge at the intermission.
Western and SPU have split their regular-season meetings in each of the last five seasons. Western lost 81-77 to the Falcons in the West Regional championship game last year.
The Vikings return to action Sat., Jan. 20 (7 p.m.), playing host to arch-rival Central Washington University in a GNAC contest.
