Monday, March 18, 2013

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Seattle Pacific used red-hot 3-point shooting to break down Cal Poly Pomona’s matchup zone and claimed a 67-54 triumph in Monday’s NCAA Division II West Regional semifinal at Carver Gymnasium.

The Falcons, the No.3 seed in the West Region and ranked No.2 nationally in the NABC NCAA Division II National Top 25 Poll, improved to 27-3 overall. 

They will play the winner of tonight’s second semifinal between No.1 seed Western Washington and No.5 seed Cal State San Bernardino.  SPU lost to eventual national champion WWU in the 2012 regional final.

Forward Patrick Simon had game-highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds for SPU, which was 14-of-28 (50.0 percent) on 3-pointers.

The Broncos, the No.2 seed in the West Region and ranked No.5 nationally, concluded their season 28-3.  Forward Mitchel Anderson led Cal Poly Pomona with 12 points.

The Broncos had used a run of eight straight points, capped by a transition dunk by Anderson, to take a 41-40 lead with 13:58 to play, but the Falcons responded with an 8-2 run to take a 47-42 lead with 10:26 to play. 

SPU then pulled away by shooting 62.5 percent (7-of-12) from the field in the last 10 minutes, including 4-of-5 on 3-pointers.

Forward Jobi Wall had 17 points and guard David Downs added 13 for the Falcons, who won their 11th straight game.

The loss marked the first time Cal Poly Pomona had lost a regional contest in Bellingham.  The Broncos had won all nine previous games.